Counterpart (Succubi & Incubi Assn.)

  I turned to her, a curious expression on my face. “Do you still think he's an angel?”

  She turned her head from watching the space Ethan just left, and her lips actually pulled up into a grin. “Are you kidding me? He's a fucking alpha maniac. I love it. He's sexy. He has this husky deep voice that sends chills down my body and makes me want to just fuu-ah—” she stopped when she noticed the bewildered look on my face. “What? Can't a girl fantasize?”

  I didn’t know if I should be disgusted or annoyed that through-out the whole interrogation, she was checking out how sexy he was. Did she listen at all?

  “Do you think we're low, middle or high ranked?” she continued. Even though it answered my question, I still couldn’t refrain from sighing and leaving the room, shaking my head along the way.

  Thirteen – I Really Should’ve Seen It Coming

  “I thought his flight got in at 1?” Melinda groaned.

  We were sitting in a large area waiting for Daniel to turn up. How we got here was just a whole bunch of bullshit. We called him after Ethan had disappeared and he made it his priority to make his way here. So that's why we're at the airport, waiting for the incubus to walk through the doors.

  But he's late.

  Like, really late. It's almost 2PM.

  “I don't even know why he's coming here,” I replied, draping my arm over my eyes to block out the sun that was shining through the large windows. “And why don't these people invest in tinting for their windows?”

  “Maybe to piss off moaning people like you.”

  I moved my arm from my eyes and turned. “Well, look who decided to show up.”

  Daniel stood there in all his glory. A pair of dark jeans hung low on his hips with a white shirt that accentuated his toned arms and Florida tan. A boyish grin came to his lips and I couldn't contain the excitement at seeing the incubus.

  I may have not been excited before, but just seeing him right here... I guess I may have missed him.

  His arms slid around my waist as I hugged him, breathing in the ocean-breeze scent he seemed to always smell like. “Maya, it's always good to see you,” he said.

  “As with you, Daniel.”

  We let go of each other and Melinda provided the same excitement when she embraced him, except well, her excitement was a bit more noticeable. “Daniel, I have missed you so much, you have no idea.” I could see her arms tighten around his neck and he laughed, his ice blue eyes brightening as he hugged her just as tight.

  “Always good to know that I'm being thought about.”

  “Why are you late, by the way?” I crossed my arms over my chest.

  As much as I ignored it, I already knew the answer to this.

  “Oh,” the grin on his face grew, confirming what I was thinking. “There was this girl on the plane, great legs, amazing set of boobs and she was eager for this,” he motioned down to his body, showing how conceited an incubus can be.

  “One day, someone's going to cut your balls off for sleeping with their daughter,” I stated.

  “Ouch, Maya.” He made a show of cupping his balls. “You shouldn't threaten the area unless you plan on personally making up for it.”

  “I don't plan on making up for it,” I shrugged, showing him a bit of sympathy. “Sorry.”

  Succubi and Incubi weren't allowed to romanticize amongst one another, but the rules said nothing about having the casual sex. Some succubi and incubi would have sex because they wanted to. It temporarily satisfied the demon but not as much as it would satisfy if they were stealing from a human. Due to the fact that our energy isn’t fresh, it just doesn't work out. Well, it could if you both agreed on not being faithful. If you didn’t agree on that, you were most likely going to die. If you don’t feed your demon enough, it will kill you.

  Committing to a relationship would just end up killing you.

  Then there was the human rule. They weren't allowed to know about us, and too much sex with them leads to their deaths.

  So yeah, we're practically the definition of the phrase 'forever alone'.

  Daniel shook his head sadly, but even I knew it was part of his show. “One day, Maya. One day you will fall for my charms.”

  I actually don't know why I hadn't had sex with Daniel yet. It could be the fact that I have sex to satisfy my demon and Daniel isn't going to be enough, or it could be the fact that he and Melinda have done it and I just don't need to go there.

  Yeah, I think it was the latter reason. “I highly doubt that.”

  ****

  “So, run it by me again what this Ethan guy said?” Daniel asked from the backseat.

  I was bound to be expelled or suspended soon with everything that I was doing. Melinda staying at my dorm was currently going unnoticed, but add Daniel to that equation and I was asking for trouble.

  “There's a new succubus in L.A. but they have no leads on whom or where she is. The SIA were following us to see if we knew anything. They would have been following you to make sure you weren't involved in any way,” Melinda said while she scrolled through songs on your iPod, “I still want to know if I’m a middle or high class demon.”

  Melinda still hadn't dropped the subject on the ranking of her demon. She did however drop the idea of her demon being low because well, that's Melinda and she won't accept that.

  So it left the other two.

  “We're middle.”

  My gaze flicked to the rear-view mirror. “How do you know?”

  Daniel shrugged. “The older you stay alive the more you're capable of doing, the higher your ranking is.”

  “Explain.”

  “Well, an elder demon like the SIA can do a lot of things from transporting to shape-shifting. They can take themselves anywhere between here and the underworld. They can change their appearance anytime they want, make themselves look like anything and anyone. They can even create their own appearance. Middle-class demons—like us—are only capable of appearing in dreams and doing what we do. Lower-class demons are the ones that refuse to associate themselves with the SIA, rogues as you may call it.”

  “Thank fucking God,” Melinda spoke to the ceiling, “I now know the answer to the million dollar question.”

  I stopped at a set of traffic lights and arched a brow at Daniel. My eyes narrowed on his. “How do you know so much?”

  Looking straight into my eyes, he arched a singular brow, as if to tell me that my question was a stupid one. “I'm not just a pretty face.”

  I let my eyes take in his face. A few strays of sandy blonde hair hung over his icy blue eyes. The chiseled features of his cheek bones matched his jaw line perfectly. And the perfect Florida tan was something to be jealous about.

  He did have a pretty face. “Well you had me fooled.”

  Melinda snorted a laugh beside me and finally picked a song. It was MKTO – Thank You. Pretty much over the conversation we were all having, I turned the volume up. This song was one of those ones that could make you happy, even if you were having a bullshit day. It helped with my mood. With everything going on, it actually distracted my thoughts for four minutes.

  But when the song finished and a familiar slow strum of a guitar played, my mood was suddenly back to being at an all time low.

  When we arrived at the dorms, Daniel brought out his signature attitude, and quickly assumed where he was sleeping.

  “So, I'll take the right side and you the left?” he smirked, sliding his arm across my shoulders only for me to just push it right back off.

  “You're sleeping on the couch, buddy. I can't trust your hands.” I headed into the living room, wanting to sit down on the couch and ignore the world. As much as music could give you that escape from everything, when it was finished, suddenly all its problems come right back.

  “That’s because you haven’t given them the chance to gain your trust.”

  I rolled my eyes, not even bothering to answer his comment.

  “What's up her ass, anyway?” I heard him ask Melinda.
<
br />   “Probably having Tristan withdrawals,” Melinda said.

  So because I refuse to sleep with Daniel there's something wrong with me? And that it's because I'm having Tristan withdrawals? “There's nothing wrong with me,” I muttered, placing my feet on the coffee table and staring down at the dark red nail polish.

  Tristan’s favorite color.

  Daniel came and sat by my feet. Moving my eyes up, I saw him watching me carefully. I thought about just shifting my eyes away from him, but there really wasn’t anywhere else, so instead I mumbled, “What?”

  He didn’t answer. The small stubble growing on his jaw distracted me momentarily, and it was then that I noticed that Daniel had really gained some manly features. The last time I saw him, he was still in that boy next door mode. Now, he was starting to look like one of those guys that you would totally not wear panties for.

  Oh how he would love to hear me admit that out-loud.

  “So you don't miss this Tristan guy?” he asked.

  The mention of Tristan killed the way I was seeing Daniel, and my arms crossed over my chest. “No.”

  He didn't look a bit convinced. I hate how Melinda and he can see through me. “Not even a little bit?”

  “Not even a little bit,” I murmured, moving my eyes from his and grabbing the remote, I gave it my full attention.

  Who the fuck was I kidding? I did miss Tristan. I hated that he was over the ocean in Hawaii, spending time on the beach with the blonde. Why couldn't I just go back a few weeks to when our relationship was normal, for us?

  “Hey Sophia, is Tristan in?” I asked. I held two smoothies in my hand, one for me and one for Tristan. He never had time to go out for lunch or even have lunch so I thought I would help out.

  Because you know, that’s what friends do.

  “Of course, he's in the normal room, finishing up with the older kids.” She gave me a knowing smile. She was one person who didn't question why I kept coming in to see Tristan. She kept to herself, which was always great to know.

  “Thanks, Soph.”

  I walked out of the reception and through the gym. A set of stairs sat at the back and into a small hall. Tristan and a group of high school boys spread around the room.

  “Alright boys, you have the basics down, remember what advice I've given you individually. Take it home, work on it, don't break anything that's going to bring you to my doorstep and you should be fine. Now get out of here.” Tristan held an authority to him when he taught his classes. Each age was a different type. With kids, he was easy with them, gave it to them gently. With the older kids—that ranged from 15 – 19—he was a bit harder.

  The group all separated into different parts of the room, a few familiar faces spotting me as they walked out.

  “Hey, Maya,” one with a mop of brown hair said as he walked past. He looked to be one of the younger ones, and he lifted his hand up to which I gave him a high five.

  I had come to many of these classes with Tristan before, I was pretty noticeable. And apparently, a lot of them knew my name. Sometimes I wondered what really went on in this room.

  “Boys,” I said, walking through the midst of them. They all grinned towards me, and it was so contagious that I had to mirror it. “Have a good day.”

  Tristan was waiting on the other side of the group, and smiled widely when I was within a few feet. “Hey gorgeous,” he said, his eyes flicking to my hands, and that smile grew wider. “You brought me lunch. Thank God.”

  I rolled my eyes, keeping my grin on my face. “How do you know it’s for you?” I said.

  His brow arched in a challenge and he said, “Last time I checked, I had this room booked all day, and unless you’re here to tease me then I can’t think of anything else. And if that smoothie is for someone else, then I’m going to start feeling replaced.”

  He had me there. I never brought smoothies for anyone else and I didn’t want him to feel that he was replaced.

  “Touché,” I said.

  Taking my answer as the opening, he spread his arms—like he always did when I saw him—and I walked into them with no hesitation. They wrapped lowly around my waist and he pulled me against him. The smoothies were the only thing that stopped our chests from brushing, and I wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not.

  “Thank you,” he murmured, looking down at me.

  The way he stared at me always sent adrenaline straight towards my heart. It was one that he’d only give me. I couldn’t explain exactly what was within this stare, but I always had to control my breathing pattern when it was present.

  Our friendship had grown more. Actually, we had even gotten to the point that we just liked the feel of each others arms—or I liked the feel of his arms. I loved when he hugged me. It was like a barricade had been put up around me, blocking out the outside world when they were there.

  But something worried me in this hold.

  I found myself not wanting to leave it.

  I heard my name being said, and Tristan’s blue eyes faded away and faded into Daniel’s much lighter ones. There was a crinkle on the side, and a smirk played on his lips. “She so misses him.”

  He's only been here for less than an hour and he's already pissing me off. “Go away, Daniel.”

  I didn’t ignore that my defense mechanism faltered when Daniel said those words, and I knew that Daniel hadn’t missed it.

  I wasn’t looking forward to what the future held.

  ****

  The night was silent, the only sound coming from the radio that was playing softly. Everyone had gone to bed, Daniel taking the couch much to his dismay.

  My side lamp was the only source of light, but it sent enough of a glow through my room for me to examine the pictures that covered my walls. Three semesters at college, enough photos to take up the whole wall behind my queen sized bed.

  Photos of Melinda and I, several of Jamie and I, Tristan, Noah, Stuart, Sophia, everyone stared back at me. My eyes skimmed over them, the memories flashing with each.

  Melinda's nineteenth, Jamie's twentieth, and my last two birthdays. Some from Tristan's twentieth were there too, and I was still yet to put some up from his twenty-first.

  I wonder when Melinda will get those developed.

  My eyes followed every photo, every corner, and every memory until it stopped on one. I leaned up and crawled forward to the wall, my bare knees sliding against the silk of my sheets.

  There was a photo of Tristan and I from a few months before he and Tori started dating. We had kind of been in the stage where our display of affection became public.

  “It’s such a hot day!” Melinda exclaimed to the sky. Her expensive camera hung around her neck. It was rare for her to go out with a camera, but when she did, she loved taking photos.

  Except today.

  “I think I’m going to die from the heat or something.”

  She was in a dramatic mood.

  “It’s not that bad,” I said.

  We found a shaded area in the middle of campus and I sat down on the grass. My body worked on its own accord, placing my bag on the ground, retrieving my books, checking my phone.

  Melinda just carried on being... Melinda.

  “I really want to get something like... good,” she tried to explain, while flicking through her photos. “Like of people, but I don’t want to look like a stalker so I’m trying to work around that right now.”

  I sat crossed legged on the ground. I placed my books on my lap. I ran my fingers through my hair and pushed it over my shoulder, my eyes reading the first book.

  Math. I cringed and flicked it off the pile. Ew.

  “Oh, look who it is...” I heard Melinda murmur. I heard the amusement in her tone instantly.

  Curious, I moved my head up, wanting to know who got Melinda’s interest.

  Then I saw him.

  Tristan.

  I felt my own mind start to lose interest in my books, or even what Melinda was saying. It was like I was being pulled into
this trance and it seemed to always happen every time he was around.

  He stood there with his back to me. He was wearing his normal attire of dark jeans and a shirt that had some sort of out-there design, his bag was slung over one shoulder... and all I have to say is why?

  Why does he have to make this so hard? He doesn’t even know what he does half the time.

  Four other guys stood around him, and they seemed to be in a really animated conversation. I only recognized Noah with his dark hair and boyish smile. The other guys looked familiar, but their names weren’t coming to me.

  Tristan had his hands deep in his pockets and judging by his shoulders that were moving up in down, I took it that he was laughing at something.

  He wasn’t even near me and my eyes were already distracted.

  Stupid Melinda. I almost wish she didn’t even mention that he was there.

  “Hello...” Melinda’s voice pulled my mind away from Tristan and suddenly I realized that I’d literally zoned out.

  God, I hope she didn’t notice.

  “Huh?”

  “You’re such a pervert. He’s got a nice ass, huh?”

  He did. “Maybe,” I said, shrugging like it wasn’t a big deal.

  She noticed that I was trying to avoid the subject and she looked down to her camera. “Maybe you should ask him if it’s real, he’s heading this way.”

  What? My head moved back in the direction of where Tristan was and I froze.

  She was right. He’s heading this way.

  And once again, all I could do was watch while all these questions popped into my head. Do I look alright? Have I eaten anything today that has given me bad breath? Oh God, what am I doing to myself? It’s only Tristan.

  “You’re a freak,” I heard Melinda say, and I couldn’t even argue with her. “You might want to cover your lap.”

  Before I could question her comment, Tristan arrived. A wide grin came on his face and when he was within range, he kneeled down and quickly pecked my cheek, taking a seat beside me. “What’s up?”

  “Not much,” I said quickly, and even I noticed that my voice was slightly high. I heard Melinda snort out a quiet laugh but if Tristan saw it, he didn’t mention anything.