“You’re an incubus?”
“I am,” Dante said. “Though I would have liked to tell you myself.”
“I don’t think you would have,” the Keeper said. “Not that I think you don’t trust her exactly, but you don’t trust anyone.”
“What… does that even mean?”
“It means I’m like you,” Dante said. “The male version of our kind.”
“So, all that talk about not being able to find a tutor, and you’re fully capable of doing the job?”
“It’s not as easy as that. I told you before, I’m not a tutor.”
“But you’re the closest thing I have. Why can’t you teach me?”
“Because I’ve forbidden it,” the Keeper said. “And while Dante is a respected member of our community, I am the person who runs this center. I don’t think Dante is qualified to teach you what you need to learn. When the tutors return, we’ll see if perhaps Leo is willing to spend time with you.”
“Leo?” Dante asked. “What could a demon have to offer a succubus?”
“A bridge we’ll cross when we come to it, which brings me to my next point; I’ve spoken with the Keepers in other centers.”
Dante seemed to drop the hostility and slipped his hands into his pockets. “What have they said?” he asked.
“What’s happening to Lilith is happening in other places,” the Keeper said. “Three centers I have spoken to have had something similar, ‘luring events’ they’re being called, happen to them recently.”
“So, this isn’t an isolated thing happening to Lilith.”
The Keeper shook his head. “There’s more.” He looked at me before continuing to speak. “It’s only happening to women.”
“What?” I asked.
“I don’t know why this is happening only to women, especially women who haven’t yet gone through their ritual, but that is the report I have received.”
That explains the shortage of women, I thought, but then another thought occurred to me. “The ring,” I said, out of the blue.
Both men turned to look at me.
“What ring?” Dante asked.
“Last night when I… went into the woods, I was wearing a ring and—shit!” I checked my neck for the necklace, then my wrist for the bracelet, and felt relief wash over me when they weren’t there. “What happened to the jewelry I was wearing yesterday?”
“We removed it to make you more comfortable. Tell me what you were going to say about the ring.”
“I don’t think it’s just the ring. The jewelry you took from me, I think that’s how I was being lured out of the mansion. When I left Aiden and walked into the woods, I could see myself doing it this time. There was no blackout like there had been before. I don’t know, maybe because this luring happened after my ritual and it didn’t take as well as the others. But when I fought to take back control, my hand was burning, and it was the ring’s fault. I can’t remember how I knew, instinct maybe, but I took the ring off and threw it into the woods.”
“How is it possible that someone enchanted your jewelry?” the Keeper asked.
“Because it wasn’t mine—I got it at the market before I came up here.”
Dante took a deep breath. “I have to make a call,” he said, pulling his phone out of his pocket. “First, we need to make sure no one leaves the mansion.”
The Keeper nodded, then picked up his glass and took a swig. “Sorry about the cold welcome,” he said. “I wish this whole thing could have gone more smoothly for you.”
I went for my own glass of bourbon and downed what was left of it. I shrugged. “That’s alright,” I said. “I’m used to drama.”
“Our main goal now is to keep you safe, and to find out why women are being targeted. The other mentors are on their way back to Germany to make sure another incident like this doesn’t happen again.”
“So, I’ll get to meet them?”
“Yes,” Dante said, “but until then, we need to make sure you’re protected. Right now, you’re our most prized treasure… our succubus.”
Their succubus, I thought, I like the sound of that.
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Author's note
Hi there! Allow me first to thank you for reading my book! If you’re still reading this, then it means I’ve kept your attention, and that’s awesome :)
Writing Serpent’s Touch has been such a great experience. The book is short, but having enjoyed doing it so much, I think the books in the series will just keep getting longer, and better, and, of course, steamier! Our lovely heroine has five potential suitors, all whom have pledged themselves to protect her; even though she clearly doesn’t need protecting! I seriously cannot wait for you to read more of these books.
If you want to keep in touch and find out when the next one is available, or if you just want to shoot me an email and say hi, talk about your favorite characters, let me know who’s the front runner in your eyes, then sign up to my mailing list right here.
Toodles for now!
xoxo,
Tansey
www.tanseymorgan.com
About the Author
Tansey is an up and coming author of Paranormal Romance and Urban Fantasy novels with a REVERSE HAREM twist. If your kind of books have magic, danger, strong, powerful females, and more hot guys than you could sink your teeth into in one sitting, then you've come to the right place!
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SERPENT’S TOUCH
The Last Serpent
Book 1
Copyright © 2017 by Tansey Morgan & LJ Sampere
Visit: www.tanseymorgan.com
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