She crossed her arms over her chest, her eyes narrowed to slits now. “How can you be sure?”
“I just am.”
Wasn’t I?
My mind reeled back to that first night as I tried to make that theory fit.
“Is that everything they told you?”
It wasn’t, but I wasn’t completely ready for the oh and I’m a succubus part yet. Once we were over the demon hurdle, I would tell her the rest.
“No,” I answered honestly. “There’s a lot more. But you need to believe that part first for the rest to make sense.”
Brie shook her head. “I’m sorry, Stevie. I just can’t believe that you think these guys are demons. That’s like something out of one of your fantasy novels or something. Did you hit your head?” she asked, leaning in to inspect my hairline. “Maybe you fell and hit your head.”
I sighed. It was time to bring in the big guns, to convince her the way that they had convinced me. I held up a finger.
“Don’t move. I’ll be right back.”
Brie collapsed onto my bed, running her hands through her hair. I could tell that she was worried about how she was going to get through to me as I stepped into the hallway. As I’d suspected, Damon was still leaning against the doorframe.
He cocked a dark brow at me. “Need some help in there?”
“Please.” They’d warned me that it would be hard to convince others, and I hated to admit I needed his help, but there was nothing to be done about it.
Damon strolled into the room like he owned the place, which, technically, he did. And, without further ado, he ordered Brie to look at him.
He held out his hand and lit a fire in his palm as Rex had done in my kitchen.
Brie’s eyes widened and then narrowed as she crossed her arms over her chest.
“Please,” she snorted. “I’m from New York City. You gotta show me something better than that low-rent, Criss Angel bullshit.”
His lips twitched into a grudging smile as he tossed the flame up into the air, sending it scattering across the ceiling in a shower of multi-colored lights before sucking it back into his hand and extinguishing it.
Brie’s lean throat worked up and down as she pulled her gaze from Damon and locked it with me. “K, I guess you’d better tell me the rest now.”
Chapter 11
Thankfully, Damon stayed by my side for the rest of my explanation, which I kept purposely vague surrounding certain aspects of being a succubus. Brie listened quietly, enraptured now that she believed me and that we had turned to the subject of my transformation.
His presence was a beacon of comfort and strength as he let me tell my story without interruption, even though I could tell that he was dying to intervene at some parts. When I’d told her everything that I could, it was clearly question time.
“I think it’s time for me to get going. My work here is done.” He cocked me another crooked grin before actually bowing. Despite me not wanting to reward his arrogance, I cheered anyway. He’d stepped in to help during this tricky bit and I was more than grateful.
“Thanks for the parlor trick,” I called sweetly as he headed from the room.
“Parlor trick, huh?” He arched an eyebrow, but then let the door close behind him muttering something about showing me a parlor trick later. Before I could rush after him and demand an explanation or better yet, a demonstration, Brie’s excited voice filled the air.
She was practically hopping on my bed, her eyes bright and inquisitive. “So, which one of those guys is going to be your boyfriend? Because I feel like I should get to pick from the rest.”
My stomach dropped, but Brie pressed on before I could answer her.
“And also, where do I sign up to become a succubus?”
“As far as I know there is no sign up sheet. You either are or you aren’t…I think, anyway,” I told her. It was the truth, but I felt strangely relieved that it was. Then I immediately felt bad for feeling relieved. I wasn’t used to jealousy, but it took my lagging mind no more than a few seconds to catch up and make the connection. The thought of Brie with any of the guys made me sick, because they all felt like they were mine.
That thought, of course, set my cheeks alight and Brie’s head tilted in curiosity.
“What else aren’t you telling me?”
This should be interesting. “Actually, uhh, they all kind of feel like my boyfriends,” I admitted. Brie blinked and stared at me with eyes wider than I’d thought possible outside cartoons. Then a bright, wicked smile spread on her face when the implications of what I’d just told her sank in.
“Holy. Shit. Tell me more,” she demanded, though she was suddenly all dreamy. “Oh my god, this is so exciting! Don’t leave out a single detail.”
“We are so not going there right now.” I was pretty sure that I was bright red all the way from the tips of my ears to my pinkie toes.
Brie rolled her eyes at my reaction to her question. “I guess being a succubus doesn’t necessarily dislodge the stick in your ass,” she grumbled. “But fine, we’ll put that on hold, Ms. Demure. What are they like as people, or demons, I guess? They’re so big and intimidating.”
They were, but they were also sweet and caring and funny and I found myself wanting to share all that with her.
“I’ll tell you all about them. Let me just get Maximus for a cuddle while we talk.”
“Okay, but do you have any girlie stuff in your bathroom? I’d kill for a face mask,” she said, cringing as she touched a fingertip to her cheek. “This cold weather is hell on my skin and you need to keep yours hydrated if you’re going to go around swimming in the dead of winter with four insanely hot guys.”
Why, oh why had I told her about that part?
I hadn’t added that we were all in our undies or about what had happened with Matteo, but just having been in the pool alone with the four of them felt scandalous enough as it was in hindsight.
Brie was my best friend though. If there was anyone I could talk to about this stuff, it was her. I just wasn’t used to being the one dishing the sexy details, but I knew just about every dirty thing both Brie and Charlie had ever done. Maybe it was time to suck it up and spill the beans.
After I led her to the bathroom and waved a hand at my new supplies, I went and retrieved Maximus. When I returned, her face was covered in green goop and she gestured for me to sit on the bed as she approached me with the tube.
“Avacado mask. And the good stuff too,” she said, clearly impressed as she squeezed some onto her fingertips.
Maximus snuggled in my lap as Brie started painting the gooey mixture onto my face.
“But I hate to tell you, stalling time is over. Out with it, Madame Succubus,” Brie said teasingly.
I groaned. “I don’t even know where to start.”
“How about with the literal personification of hotness that just left,” she suggested, fanning herself. “That guy is scorching.”
“I’m pretty sure they can all pull that stunt. It was Rex who did it for me. But okay, Damon’s as good a place to start as any.”
They all were, and therein lay the problem…
“I’m getting old waiting for you to fess up,” she joked. It was kind of strange to think that I would never get old, but it wasn’t the time to dwell on that.
I sighed, and gave myself a mini-pep talk. Here goes nothing.
“Damon is… He’s the biggest and baddest of them all, I guess. Before I knew their names, I referred to him in my head as Dark and Dangerous. He’s super protective, but he’s also unexpectedly funny sometimes.”
“Now that’s a combination I would kill for,” Brie interjected as she patted the cool mask onto my forehead with a nod.
“And he’s smart too. He has a degree in political sciences and he loves to read.”
Brie laughed. “Of course the reading bit would be what turns your knees to jelly.”
“Everything about him does, actually.” I had never been more grateful to hav
e green goo on my face, at least it would partially hide how red I was getting.
Brie wasn’t fooled, though. “I could light a match off the tips of your ears.”
I clapped my hands to my ears, but Brie grasped my wrists and tugged, smearing avocado on my forearm. “No, there’s no being embarrassed about any of this. You finally have an actual crush. Or four. Who’s counting?”
I raised my hand. Brie chuckled and shook her head incredulously as if she was still grappling with the fact that this was all really happening, before urging me on. “What about the others?”
“Lachlan is… Charming and funny and sexy. I think he would be able to set you at ease even if a building you were stuck in was burning down. Which is awesome when that’s exactly what all of this feels like…or felt like, at least.”
Talking about them to Brie was becoming easier with every word. I was relaxing and it was helping me sort out my own feelings as I gently stroked a chuffing Maximus.
“Lach is the most easygoing of them all, but he’s also strong and honest and almost, I don’t know, instinctive. They all are, but I feel it more intensely from him. It’s almost like he can read my mind.”
“Can he?” Brie asked, raising an eyebrow.
“They claim that they can’t. Lach says he’s just good at reading people. He’s really good at it, if that is what it is.”
“Is that all he’s good at?” Brie teased.
I shrugged and mumbled, “He’s also an incredible kisser.”
“Swoon! Of course he is. Guys like those are always unfairly talented at all things.”
It struck me that Brie knew so much more about men than I did. I was suddenly eager to tell her the rest and hear about all of her observations.
“Then there’s Matteo. He seems aloof, but he’s really not. He’s confident and cool and funny when he wants to be, which isn’t that often. He’s pretty serious, and deeply caring. And gentle.”
“Gentle?” Trust Brie to pick up on that one word.
My ears burned again as I recalled those hands on me. “Gentle.”
“Okay, I get it. That’s all I’m getting, for now. There will be details later, even if I have to loosen you up with a glass of wine or two before you get out of that big brain of yours and just share.”
She knew me too well.
“Matteo also went to college. He’s got a degree in business management,” I told her.
“Bunch of smart boys you’ve surrounded yourself with. Can’t say I’m surprised.”
“They are, yeah. Last but definitely not least is Rex. I think of him as the artist of the group. He’s quiet and brooding. He doesn’t say much, but when he does it’s always really funny or insightful. He also seems deeply intuitive and intense. Like he knows what you want or need before you do and gives it freely.”
Brie said nothing, but arched a questioning eyebrow. I tried to bite back my embarrassment, she’d made it clear that she wasn’t judging me.
I just had to do the same thing for a change.
“What I mean is,” I pushed my hands through my hair, trying to find the best explanation. “The other night, I was kind of freaking out about all this stuff. The next second, out of nowhere, Rex launches into his ‘origins’ story, at the risk of sounding like a complete nerd.”
“You are one,” she said laughingly, “but carry on.”
“It helped me so much to hear more about them, about where they’d come from. It was like he knew that that was what I needed before I did.”
“Ah.” Brie sighed. “I definitely agree with your assessment of him as the deep soulful one of the group, then.”
A knot that I hadn’t realized was in my stomach started unwinding. This…talking to Brie, was exactly what I’d been missing. I was suddenly unbelievably happy that my friend was there and that I finally had someone to share the amazing turn my life had taken these past few days.
It felt really good to be getting everything off my chest, to have someone there who knew me as well as I knew myself to help me make sense of my feelings and of these guys.
Just as I was plucking up the courage to tell Brie what had happened with Matteo the other night, a loud screeching noise came from the window.
Brie and I, avocado masks still in place, startled and jumped up from the bed in time to see a massive crow flying toward the window. It was black as night, with blood red eyes gleaming in the darkness and zeroed in on me. It also had something in its talons. Something that I couldn’t make out until the crow launched it at us. A stone with a note wrapped to it shattered the windowpane.
The crow seemed to glare right at me, then swooped away and was gone so fast I would’ve thought I’d imagined the whole thing if Brie wasn’t standing next to me, pale as a sheet and staring at the stone at my feet.
The door to my room burst open and all four guys came hurtling in, one looking more murderous than the other as their eyes darted around the room. Damon and Lach were at my side in a flash while Matteo and Rex immediately went to the shattered window.
As if their presence had brought her back to her senses, Brie muttered, “What in the actual fuck was that?”
Damon and Lach exchanged a concerned look while I wrapped my arms around Brie’s shoulders. We were both shaking like leaves, hanging on to each other for dear life.
“Calm down, you’re okay,” Lachlan said soothingly, wrapping his arms easily around both of us. “It’s just a message, you’re safe. I promise. Whatever it was, it’s not coming back tonight.”
“What was it?” Rex’s low growl asked from the window. He was hanging half out of it, scanning the yard below like a hawk.
“It was a crow,” I managed to croak, desperately trying not to let the fearful tears that were stinging the backs of my eyes fall. “But a really scary looking one.”
“Makes sense,” Damon said grimly as he picked up the stone and stuck it into his pocket. “The crow has always been a favorite.”
“True that,” Matteo agreed, scowling. I felt rather than saw him come up behind us. He rested a hand on my shoulder and Lach pulled away slowly, his eyes raking my body as if to check for physical injury.
“We’re not hurt,” I told him, sensing the relief before it manifested in his eyes. “Just scared.”
“Okay,” Matteo squeezed my shoulder, “you girls wash off whatever the hell is on your faces and we’ll go talk.”
Maximus had burrowed into the bedding, so I broke away from the others to retrieve him. Brie’s eyes were still wild, but she held out her arms to take Maximus to his cage.
“Give him to me, you go wash up.”
Damon and Rex nodded, so I swallowed past the lump in my throat and handed him over. “Thank you.”
Lachlan and Matteo hung back with Brie while the others followed me to the bathroom. I almost rolled my eyes at their ridiculous protectiveness, but considering what had just happened, I was actually pretty grateful for it. My hands shook as I quickly splashed water onto my face and then patted it dry.
Brie joined me at the basin a minute later and all four guys hovered right outside the door to the en suite. A door that they had insisted remain open unless one of us had to pee. It seemed like overkill since there was only one window in the bathroom, but we agreed anyway, still shaken to the core.
“Let’s make some tea. I have a feeling we’re going to need it,” I said once we were on our way downstairs. There was a murmuring of assent and Brie didn’t let go of my hand for a single second until we reached the kitchen.
Her slim fingers dug into mine and betrayed the expression of calm she was trying her best to project. I gently withdrew my fingers from hers, making sure to lead her to a place at the corner of the kitchen table, right against the stone wall where she wouldn’t be worried about what was lurking just beyond the windowpanes on the other side of the room.
Damon dropped the stone that had crashed through my window on the kitchen table, but waited for me to finish making the tea before he un
folded the note. It was rolled up like a scroll, held in place by a blood-red ribbon. Once I’d passed the fortifying cups of tea around, he took point and spread the note open on the table.
The note was surprisingly simple in all of its terrifying glory. Written in what I was sure was blood in the center of parchment-like paper, were only four words. Four horrible words that made all the blood drain from my face and the icy fingers of fear wrap themselves like a vise around my heart.
‘Peekaboo! I see you…’
That was it. No threats, no elaborate descriptions about the torture that awaited me. Four simple words that were somehow more powerful because of their simplicity.
“Luci,” Damon said, breaking the stunned silence that had fallen on the room. “Right then. So tomorrow night, we’re packing up and going to another safehouse.”
The room started to spin and I barely heard them talking after that. I was starting to realize just exactly how deep I was in over my head. I was rooted to the spot, my mind racing and blood thundering in my ears.
“Who the fuck is Luci?” Brie’s voice broke through the mayhem swirling around inside my head. I couldn’t help it, I started giggling hysterically.
“Luci is the succubus queen who will stop at nothing to murder me, of course.”
Chapter 12
An hour later, the snow was still coming down by the bucket load. After calming me down, which took longer than I was proud to admit, the guys invited Brie to stay the night. They gave her the room across the hall from mine and promised to protect her. I’d made sure that she was settled in before I went back to my room.
I was tucked into my bed, all the guys having come by already to make sure that I was really okay, wondering why I’d said yes. I wasn’t okay, not by a long shot. I also wasn’t sure why I hadn’t just crawled into Brie’s bed with her—though somewhere in the back of my mind I knew that it was because I was scared she might be caught in the crossfire if anything or anyone came for me.
I’d almost taken one of the guys up on their offers to stay with me, but I’d wanted some time to process everything that had happened tonight. Now I realized that I could’ve been processing with someone else in the room instead of being haunted by the crazed eyes of the crow all on my own in the dark.
Her Demon Harem: Reverse Harem Duology 1 (The Succubus Chronicles) Page 9