Counterpart (Succubi & Incubi Assn.)

  Muscle and flawless skin surrounded both of them, making them too much alike. But Tristan had more experience than Daniel, and even though an incubus has a lot of advantages over a human, I knew Daniel wouldn’t last.

  “No, you’ll get smashed instead.” My voice was blank, and I had decided to just stay blunt for the rest of the night.

  Tequila and me = telling the truth, and nothing but the truth.

  “Now, usually at this point I’d feign how you wounded my ego, but I see how you’re not in the mood, so I won’t.” He was right about that.

  I didn’t reply, instead I gave the bottle in my lap my full attention. I cringed at the amount of liquid left. I was obviously going to need more than this, and maybe I’ll get some lemons while I was at it.

  “Anyway,” Melinda said. She sat on the opposite couch from us, her feet on the coffee table. “I found out some information about Ethan.”

  I was hardly interested in information about Ethan, but hell, it beat talking about Tristan. “What did you find out?”

  “Well, his name is Ethan Bennett. You should’ve seen how many last names I went through to find that information out.” She rolled her eyes for effect. “He wouldn’t give me an exact number, but he’s been with the SIA for over fifty years.” She suddenly sat up. “But wait, there’s more. He’s over a century old. It’s weird because I thought he was, like, twenty two or something.”

  It even came as a shock to me. I thought he was just a few years older than me, but no, he was a bit older than that. And, that’s an understatement.

  I wonder how he feels being an incubus... sleeping around with girls not even fifty percent his age. I refrained from laughing at the image of Ethan being an old man, looking around and persuading little girls.

  Then the image just made me cringe.

  “Good thing we have demons,” Daniel spoke up from my side, “we can be however old we want, look however we like, and do whoever we want. It’s probably one of my favorite things about being an incubus. But, I have to admit, I think the first thing I want to try is replicating Channing Tatum.”

  “You want to be Channing Tatum?” I smirked. The thought of him gaining a larger build almost sounded intriguing, but I couldn’t help but wonder, “You have a man crush on him?”

  “I don’t have a man crush!” he said defensively, “I’m just saying, the guy looks good.”

  “Man crush,” I stated again. Not that I had a problem in Daniel’s choice of men but if he turned up to my dorm like Channing Tatum... I was scared about what the results would be.

  “It’s not a man crush. Melinda, tell her it’s not a man crush.”

  I had to my roll my eyes at the fact he was going to coward behind Melinda. As if she would be on his side for this.

  “Sorry,” she shrugged, “I’m with her on this.” I refrained from poking my tongue out in an immature manner. “You have a man crush and it’s totally not something to be defensive about. He’s hot. Did you see him in Magic Mike—ugh.” She slumped back against the couch, fanning her face. “Talk about swoon.”

  Normally I would say something about Melinda being dramatic, but not even my semi-tipsy mind could ignore the hotness that came with that movie.

  “I haven’t seen the movie,” Daniel said.

  Both Melinda and I snapped our heads in his direction. I guess it was understandable that he hadn’t seen it. I knew a lot of males that refused to see it. Then there were the people like Stuart, who didn’t care as long as there were shirtless scenes.

  “So did you watch the part when he totally rotated his hips all over the stage?” Melinda said to me, ignoring Daniel's lack in movie picks.

  “Of course I did. I watched it, rewound it, watched it again and so on, so forth. If there was an option to just replay that scene over and over again, I’d probably fall asleep to it.”

  I felt something move on my lap and I remembered that I had an open bottle of tequila in my hand. Geez, talking about Channing Tatum really distracted me.

  “Oh, the things I would do to have a guy just dance for me like that,” Melinda said, her eyes distant and glassed over.

  “I have a feeling I don’t want to be in this room anymore, so goodbye!” Daniel made the move to get off the couch, and it only caused me and Melinda to laugh.

  “Aw, come on, Daniel, if you had seen the movie, you’d know what we were talking about. And, trust me—you’d definitely want his body after that.”

  Daniel ignored Melinda’s comment, covering his ears from the sounds of our laughter as he headed into the kitchen. I had no clue why he was going to hide in there. It’s not a big kitchen.

  I wonder if he’ll look to see if there’s any more alcohol...

  “You know what would happen if he walked into campus like Channing, right?” Melinda’s voice distracted me from the liquor. She was watching the space Daniel had left, her finger tapping against her chin while her green eyes narrowed.

  I wasn’t fully sure what she was talking about. What would happen to Daniel if he walked into campus like Channing—Oh. “Those girls will be crawling up those stairs like zoo animals.” Sadly, that wasn’t just me over-exaggerating

  “Exactly, it’ll be a frenzy. We’ll have to put him in a cage.”

  The image of him being inside a cage, surrounded by screaming fan girls was so satisfying that it wasn’t funny. Sometimes Melinda could come up with some good ideas. “We can totally sell him off.”

  Her head tilted to the side, curious. “I was just saying that for his safety,” then she grinned, “but your idea is so much better.”

  “I know. Only drunk thoughts lead to these significant ideas of mine.” I held the bottle up, like I was cheering to myself and only myself. I can just see myself acting like a loser tonight.

  “He will be the death of everyone,” Melinda said after a few seconds.

  I was about to comment on how that comment itself was dramatic, but then I felt him.

  “No one is going to be the death of anyone,” Ethan said. I could feel the room grow serious, and my fingers itched to grab the bottle and drink the rest of it right then.

  “Oh, if it isn’t Mr Serious, what do we have the pleasure of today?” Melinda said, trying to bring out her—what she called—royal accent.

  Ethan just stood there, his broad arms crossed over his chest. “I don’t have time for your little games, succubus.”

  “You know we have names right?” Melinda pointed to herself. “I'm Melinda, and that's Maya.” She stated our names slowly, almost like she was trying to teach a child.

  Ethan definitely wasn’t a child.

  “Great, nice to know you remember your names,” he said, walking over and taking the seat beside me. Why did everyone have to sit beside me? Why couldn’t they sit by Melinda?

  I turned my head and glanced towards the elderly—ha, elderly. The word didn’t fit him though. He looked nothing like his age. And, seriously if people knew his age, and that he wasn’t an incubus then maybe they’d ask which surgeon he went to.

  There was a small amount of stubble along his jaw, a smooth lightly tanned complexion, followed by those dark green eyes that looked awesome. Why couldn’t I have cool colored eyes? I was stuck with brown ones—thanks to my so-called parents.

  Honestly though—and I’m not entirely sure if this was the alcohol getting to my head—but Ethan was really good looking, like in that 'I’d totally watch you strip' kind of way. It almost made it impossible to imagine him with wrinkles and gray hair. Actually... my eyes traveled to his hair and I tried to look for strands of hair that I could call him out on, but no, it was like he always dyed it.

  He was lucky he was cute, or else females wouldn’t give him pleasure if he opened his mouth.

  “Can I ask you a question?” I said out of the blue.

  He snapped his head to me, a brow arched. “Why?”

  I don’t see why he couldn’t just say: Sure, Maya. What’s up? “It’s a serious question.�
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  He watched me for a slow couple of seconds then sighed. “If you must.”

  I must. I tried to keep my face straight, showing no sign of my question being humorous. “You know how you’re like a century old or something?”

  “Mhm...”

  “When you have sex with a twenty year old female, does that make you a pedophile?” I heard Melinda burst out laughing, and soon enough Daniel’s laughter was heard. It wasn’t helping the charade I was trying to pull.

  Ethan, however, was as emotionless as he was the first day I met him. “If you have sex with over 20 males a year, does that make you a whore?”

  My laughter died so fast that I could hear the sounds of Melinda’s and Daniel’s fading as soon as they got the meaning. “That’s not fair and you know it,” I said.

  “Then don’t ask me questions that you’re not prepared to know the answer for.”

  “You didn't even answer the question. You just asked me a question. It's different.”

  I figured with the fact that he turned his attention away from me that this whole conversation—that was about to turn into an argument—was at an end.

  “I’m here for a reason. We think we might know why Tori’s here,” he spoke up. I groaned.

  Tori. I had forgotten about the bitch for a while there, hell, I had even forgotten about Tristan.

  Now my down mood was back.

  At least I got to laugh today.

  “Why?” I said, just wanting to drink the liquor now.

  “We think she might be after Bethany’s demon for Cassandra.”

  “I don’t get it.”

  “Bethany was one of the strongest succubi after Rosa. She managed to make a human immune. There's no telling what else she could do. If she had the same powers as Rosa did then...” he didn't finish his sentence. He looked at me with an expectant stare, like he wanted me to figure it out, and I was trying to dig inside my brain for what only Rosa and Bethany could do.

  “She would have been able to make succubi and incubi,” I finally said.

  “Right, but we couldn't find out because she died.”

  My demon had more powers than I thought. But that still didn't tell me why Tori’s here. “What does that have to do with Tori?”

  “We think Cassandra sent Tori to keep you and Tristan apart.”

  Well it worked. The mention of Tristan hit me and the memories of earlier on played in my head. It wasn’t long before I was unscrewing the cap of the bottle in my lap, swigging it back as soon as I could.

  “Why?” Melinda asked the question everyone was waiting to hear come out of my mouth, but it was currently occupied.

  “If Maya and Tristan reconnected Bethany's soul, then you'll get stronger, Maya. If you get stronger it'll be harder for Cassandra to get to you.”

  Great, because I don’t have any other problems right now.

  “And,” he continued. I noticed Daniel had moved back into the living room and he sat on the arm of the couch Melinda was on. “As much as you probably don’t like the idea right now, you may have to reconnect the soul.”

  I almost sputtered the whole tequila contents on the floor. “Excuse me?”

  “You need to be prepared for anything, Maya. If you can reconnect it, you’ll get stronger. You’ll learn faster. You’ll be able to protect yourself.”

  Isn’t that was the SIA was for, protecting me from crazy people like this? “Why can’t I take her down now?”

  The look he gave me was one that pitied the comment I made. “You wouldn’t last three seconds with Cassandra. She’s not just a succubus. She’s one of the originals. Tori would have her support, so your chances of survival are close to null.”

  This is exactly why you people should be protecting me, not throwing me out with the sharks.

  “I’m not having sex with Tristan,” I stated. I was making sure of this. Even if he wasn’t angry at me or disgusted, I wasn’t going to take advantage of him.

  “Why not?” he asked, surprised by my statement.

  “Because unlike some people, I actually care about some humans out there,” I replied.

  “What else do you expect to do, Maya? You can attempt to take both Tori and Cassandra down by yourself but other than the fact that you’ll be outnumbered, they will take you down with their eyes closed.”

  Thanks for the vote of confidence, Ethan. Thanks very fucking much.

  I took another giant swig of the alcohol, and frowned when I felt it getting lighter and lighter.

  “There’s something else isn’t there?” I heard Daniel say. He moved forward, leaning his elbows on his knees as strands of his hair fell over his forehead and sea-blue eyes. “What is it?”

  I wouldn’t have figured that Ethan was hiding something—probably because my mind wasn’t concentrating on something more than five seconds—but the fact that Daniel pointed it out made me grateful.

  Ethan’s jaw was tense, his eyes on Daniel and I was sure he was fighting not to glare. After a deep sigh, he said, “Rosa can’t fully protect anyone anymore. She’s getting old, so she’s not as powerful as she was.”

  At least that answers the SIA question.

  “I've never heard of a succubus getting old,” Daniel replied.

  “Rosa is the eldest succubus, of course you wouldn't have heard of one getting old because it's never happened,” Ethan retaliated. He had a point.

  “Perfect. I’m going to be dead before I even turn twenty-one, yay.” My voice was sarcastic and held no other emotion whatever. The last few drops of the tequila dripped on my tongue and I almost whined at the lack of effect it had. I still couldn’t believe he wanted me to have sex with Tristan. Yeah, I get that he’s immune and all that shit, but still, I couldn’t see us even shaking hands anymore. “Just so you know, I’m not having sex with Tristan, and I don’t plan on having sex with him because right now, he doesn’t even want to see me, so there has to be another way.”

  “There isn’t.”

  I heard the sound of a phone vibrate and I pulled my phone out, checking to see if it was me—which it wasn’t.

  “The generation these days... always relies on technology,” Ethan sighed.

  If he was talking about me picking my phone up, then he doesn’t have a—oh, I see what he was looking at now. Apparently, Melinda and Daniel had heard the sound too, and they both had pulled their phones out, checking to see if they were the lucky text winner.

  “Oh.” Melinda perked up, sitting straight. I guess it was her. “There’s a party on tonight.”

  The sound of a party caught my interested. When there was a party, there was alcohol, and when there’s alcohol, there was cute guys waiting to be picked up. “It’s at the arena, and it’s a tribute to Geoff,” she continued, which only killed my mood. Tristan would be there, for sure. “Tori could be there.”

  “I doubt it.” I had a good feeling she wouldn't show her face now that she wasn't with Tristan. She wouldn't even know about the party.

  I hated that the bottle in my lap was empty, and I hated how it was still in my hand. Instantly, I wished a faerie would come and refill it.

  “Well,” Ethan said as he stood, “looks like we have somewhere to be tonight.”

  He’s kidding me right? “You want to go to the party?”

  “Yep.”

  “Why?” He didn’t even know Geoff.

  “I said before that we were going to take our chances. If there’s a small chance that Tori could be there tonight, then we’re going.”

  “Count me out.” I pushed myself off the couch and headed towards the kitchen, mentally crossing my fingers for an alcohol supply.

  “You’re not coming? Why?” Ethan’s voice followed me, and I knew he was in the kitchen. The too small kitchen.

  The empty bottle sat on the counter, showing me how much of an alcoholic I will turn into if I kept it at this rate. I turned to face Ethan, my own arms folding over my chest while my vision started to blur slightly. “I don’t want t
o go, and that’s my decision. If you want to go find her, then don’t let me stop you.”

  He stood there for a second longer than I felt comfortable, and then he nodded and walked out, leaving the conversation at that. He wasn’t going to start a fight about it? Maybe he thought I was too drunk for this, that’s what I was already considering. Or maybe he was leaving me here to ponder over my own thoughts, turning this into reverse psychology so I did end up going.

  Well, that’s not going to work. I’m not going.

  That decision was final.

  Nineteen – Sometimes I Hate My Own Thoughts

  “Stupid reverse psychology,” I mumbled from the backseat.

  Ethan and Daniel shared a small laugh from the front of my car, and it only made me glare at the back of their heads.

  I don't even know how it worked, but the fact that Ethan had let me off so easily in not coming to this stupid party, only made me want to go. It was crafty in his efforts, but God, why did I have to fall for it? Maybe I can just get out of the car right now.

  Oh, wait. It's too late, because Daniel is already pulling up to the arena.

  “I didn't force you to come,” Ethan said, holding my door open for me as Melinda and I got out.

  “It felt like it,” I replied. By the sounds of the music coming from the arena, I gathered that everyone had gone from 'solemn' to 'wild-child' pretty quickly. The sound of laughter was heard, music was playing loudly and all I could wonder is, “Why are we here? I told you guys, Tristan and Tori broke up, so I doubt that she even knows.”

  I couldn't explain how many times I told these people. I'm sure I counted to about 100 by the time we got here.

  “And, we told you,” Melinda said, joining my side, “that there could be a chance that she'll turn up. You know this, Maya. Just because they're not together, doesn't mean she won't show her face.”

  I hated when Melinda was right. “I shouldn't have come.” Shaking my head, I turned and planned to lock myself in my car until they were all done in there, but I was only stopped by Daniel's arm.

  “You guys go ahead. We'll be there in a minute,” he said over my shoulder. I heard footsteps start walking and I knew that Ethan and Melinda were going. Sighing, Daniel moved his eyes down to meet mine and then he was leaning back against the car. “Want to tell me what's wrong, or should I take a lucky guess?”