by Sariah Skye
Resolutely, I turned the ringer on vibrate and tossed it back onto the nightstand, flinching when it made a loud banging sound. I didn’t think that one through. But Ava barely stirred; she was absolutely out like a light. I smiled to myself; a self-satisfied, smug smile when I thought I was the reason she was sleeping so peacefully. I made her moan, I made her tremble, I made her feel safe.
Certainly was much better than my incubus conquests. Sure, it felt good for them, but it was… fake. The magic took control, and it wasn’t really us they enjoyed; it was the magic. We were just the conduits.
Sighing quietly, I lay my head back down on the pillow, inhaling her sweet-smelling scent of shampoo and her perfume. Something lightly floral and spicy, I thought. My bedsheets would probably smell like it later, and that pleased me immensely.
Before long my eyes were sliding shut again and I was about to slip into blessed oblivion when there was a knock at my door. I startled gently out of my drowsiness and immediately frowned.
“What!?” I growled menacingly and scowled when Ava’s tired eyes flew open. She rubbed the sleep out of them groggily with her fists. “This better be good!” I bellowed.
“Eh, ye decent?” Trystan’s Scottish brogue drawled from the opposite side of the door.
“No.” Ava gently tittered next to me, a lazy smile on her pretty face.
“Well, get decent. We’ve been trying to get a hold of ye all damn morning.”
Glaring daggers at the door meant for Trystan, I barked a cruel, “I don’t care.” Really if it had to be anyone, I was glad it was Trystan and not Xander. He was in a foul mood lately and I just did not want to be the recipient of that today. I understood it, but I just didn’t want to deal with it. Everyone always seemed to look for me to fix problems, make decisions… blah blah blah. I was only happy to acquiesce and delegate that garbage to someone else. “Seriously, go away…” I grumbled crabbily.
Ava giggled again and stretched drowsily with her arms over her head. They dropped, and she slipped one of them around my neck, gently tousling the hair at my nape. It felt nice—so nice.
“I’ll give ye one hour. And then I’m draggin’ yer arses out here before Bash kills ye. We have things to discuss.” It was silent for a moment before he said, “And, hi, Ava.” Laughing roguishly, his footsteps disappeared down the hallway.
Ava pulled a sour face. “Just as well, I could use a shower, I guess.” She pulled the blanket off over her, exposing her full breasts and the rest of her upper body to the cold, shivered quickly, and started to climb out of the bed.
Taking advantage of my supernatural speed, I dashed around the bed and stood over her, just before she could leave. She flinched in surprise at first but grinned playfully when I pinned her with my body back to the bed. “Stop!” She scolded, not really sounding upset at all. “Let me go to the bathroom. And like… brush my teeth or something.” She wrinkled her nose.
Reluctantly, I let her up. “All right, fine,” I agreed, slumping back onto the bed. “There are extras in the top drawer under the sink.”
Sauntering with a hypnotic swing in her hips— did she even realize she did that? —she tossed her hair over her shoulder and flashed me the evilest of grins. “Eh, I was just planning to use yours.”
I made a fake gagging noise before she disappeared into the bathroom, closing the door behind her. “Hey, what’s the big deal? You had your damn tongue in my mouth half the night!”
She had a point there.
Feeling a violent shiver, both from the drafty air, and from her absence, I slid back into bed, and pulled the blanket up to my chest, and let my mind wander.
Everything felt so… normal. Okay, despite the fact that I had to “share” her with my three pseudo-brothers that is. That part didn’t really bother me at all, although it probably should. It just didn’t seem logical, and still somehow it was working. Cambions like Ava were incredibly rare in the supernatural world; most human women couldn’t live through a demonic pregnancy. Of course I knew why Ava’s mother could: she was a damn psycho witch.
I scowled at the thought at first, but relented. Without that psycho witch I wouldn’t be here now, my bed still warm from the beautiful woman in my bathroom. I probably would have been dust in the wind, long, long ago.
It was strange. For years, that’s all I wanted; to end this miserable existence of a life. To end the pain and torment of all the pain I’d caused. Now? I wanted nothing more than to live a thousand more years if I could spend them with her.
A faucet started running from in the bathroom, and I lowered my brow until she peeked her head through a crack in the doorway. “Coming?”
My outlook brightening, I didn’t need to be asked twice.
Chapter Thirty-Three
So… shower sex always sounded a bit better than it actually was. Now with Bash it was easier; he had better shelves to cling to, a textured floor, and he wasn’t well over a foot taller than me. It wasn’t for lack of trying, though, but Mathias and I were satisfied to just “mess” around at first. He made a big production of shampooing my hair and roaming his sudsy hands over my wet breasts repeatedly; all I could do in my slack-kneed state was lean against the wall of the shower, arch my back and enjoy the hell out of it.
“This is so much better than… well before,” he had said, rising to his feet after kneeling to worship my core.
Huskily, I asked, “Better than what?”
“Your reactions. They’re genuine. Not glassy eyed and forced,” Mathias mused, with a suggestive glint in his eye. “I’m pretty sure I’m becoming addicted to hearing you moan.”
“There are worse things,” I insisted, before I lowered to my knees and repaid the favor. He chewed his lip and tugged at my hair, groaning lightly. Yeah, okay… it was hot. I could see what he meant.
Soon, we abandoned the shower for his bed, not caring that we just got the floor and bedding sopping wet. After another twenty minutes of ridiculously hot sex, we finally relented and got out of bed for the second time today.
I actually chuckled to myself, poised over his bathroom sink, one-hundred percent buck-ass naked, brushing out my hair in the mirror. It didn’t seem weird or forced. I was entirely comfortable, even though he was built with the perfect body and I was more of a wet burlap sack. Shrugging at my reflection in the mirror, I guessed I didn’t look all that bad.
Setting down Mathias’ brush, I habitually reached for a jar of my face cream that wasn’t there. I grumbled.
“What?” He asked, setting down a change of clothes on the sink.
“All my stuff is upstairs,” I groused.
“So, leave some stuff here. I don’t mind.” He laughed lightly. “At least then my arrangement of hair products won’t seem so weird, right?” He motioned to several containers of pomade and various conditioners and whatever sexy gladiator-guys wore in their stylish hair.
I cocked a brow. “You don’t know what you’re getting yourself into.”
He crossed his arms across the wide expanse of his chest; the damn sleeves of his gray t-shirt stretched to the max. I started to lick my lips at his gorgeousness but fought the urge. I did not need to get going… again.
“Try me,” he challenged.
Oh, it was on. “Don’t be surprised if you see a big, giant, Amazon Prime box here in a couple of days.”
Mathias laughed, then stopped short. “Wait—how big?”
“Big.” My tone was ominous.
His eyes widened. “I better… start cleaning things out then.”
“Ha ha,” I waved him off to grab his clothes to get dressed; just a pair of oversized PJ pants and a gray t-shirt. I gently braided my hair and tossed over my shoulder to get it out of my way.
Mathias crowded the doorframe to the bathroom and asked, “Do you think after all this is over, we’ll get time just to… do nothing all day? Is that even possible?”
“We’ll make it possible. These doors have locks, right?” Satisfied with that notion,
Mathias smirked thoughtfully a moment.
“I’m going down to the kitchen, I’m starving, how about you?” Mathias snaked his arms around my shoulders and leaned over to place a smiling kiss on my cheek.
“Getting there. Besides, if you don’t, Rhys might burn down the kitchen trying to make something.” I nudged him gently with my hip. “Go. I’m just going to finish up.”
I ambled down into the living room another ten minutes or so later. Mathias was already at work in the kitchen, Bash was in a chair, flipping through his phone as usual; a stack of white papers in his lap. Xander was folded into the other chair, his legs hanging over the arm, pointing the remote at the TV across the room, flipping through the channels absentmindedly. Rhys, surprisingly, was quiet sitting cross-legged on the floor, playing with the dogs he acted like he hated, and Trystan was snoozing on the sofa.
He woke up when I slid into his lap and grinned widely. “Hello, luv,” he greeted brightly, the same impish glint in his bright green eyes.
“Hey, stud.” I’d somehow acquired affectionate nicknames for all the guys so far, except him; and that one just slipped out. I guess it sort of fit, because he was a bit full of himself. Rightly so, though. I curled up against the expanse of his broad chest and rested my head on his shoulder. “I feel like I haven’t seen much of you the past couple days.”
Trystan sniffed casually, shrugging his shoulders. “Eh, to be expected. I’m too much for anyone. You gotta take a break once in a while.”
Xander let out a wild laugh. “Ha! Yeah, that’s the reason.”
Trystan glared at him. “Och, storm-boy, you’re just jealous—”
“Hey!” Bash suddenly shouted. He stood up quickly in the chair, all the paper in his lap falling messily to the floor, and darted to Xander, grabbing the remote away from him.
“The fuck, man?” Xander glowered, but Bash dismissed him, turning the TV up.
“…a rash of college disappearances seems to be plaguing the metro and central Minnesota area, starting with two young men from St. Cloud State. Hunter Davidson and Dylan Carter were last seen a week ago at a party put on by their fraternity, when several partygoers watched them leave with an unfamiliar woman.” The blonde news anchor was on site, standing outside of the fraternity house we were just at last night. The screen then flashed two casual photos, probably taken from their Facebook pages, of Hunter and Dylan; the same incubi we encountered last night. Except… not. The incubi we saw were stacked, built, and for lack of a better term—hot. These kids were awkward, with cheesy smiles, thin builds and looked like—well, kids.
“Shit…” I said, “those are definitely not the same kids from last night.”
“No way,” Bash said.
Mathias had emerged from the kitchen, a spatula in hand to listen better. “Those are the incubi from last night?”
“Aye,” Trystan replied.
“No trace of the woman has been found, but a bystander did shoot this quick footage with his cell phone.” A grainy video, shot from far away appeared on screen. I laughed dryly; the filmer was obviously trying to get video of two pretty girls who had no idea they were being filmed, and then the shot zoomed into something along the edge. Sure enough it was our two incubi, talking animatedly with a brunette woman. She was only seen from the back; it could have been anyone. But…
She turned around, leading them out of the shot, and the footage zoomed in to get a better look at her face. It was blurry, but the striking eyes, tanned skin, and full lips were plain as day.
“Nadina.” I glowered.
“Yeah, that’s what we wanted to talk to you about,” Bash said. “When we confronted them, showed them both Morgaine and Nadina’s photo—”
“—how did you get Nadina’s photo?” My eyebrows flew up suspiciously.
“Later,” Bash said, turning back to the TV as the story continued.
“So far, no trace of either man has been seen,” the newscaster said. “Days later, a brother and sister, Michael and Christina Morris from Sartell were reported missing; bystanders last saw them with a woman, with the same description as the woman in the St. Cloud disappearance.”
“Well, shit,” I said, grimacing.
“Police ask if you know anything about the whereabouts, or the suspect in question, please contact them, or 9-1-1 with any information you may have; you can remain anonymous. Live, from St. Cloud State University, I’m Haley Anderson.”
“I think you need to fill us in on what happened last night,” Mathias said, his tone dire.
“Well, we would have but when we came home and found Ava’s underwear all over the living room, we figured it was probably not a good time,” Xander said dryly.
Mathias’ sheepishly chewed his lip, and blushed. I just cackled evilly.
“Aye, I said it. Damn temptress,” Trystan said, gently tickling my side until I erupted into a peal of high-pitched giggles.
“Xan, now is not the time to be a jealous dick, okay?” Bash snapped at him venomously, and Xander backed down, his face softening as he muttered a guilty, “Sorry.”
“Ava’s underwear was all over the floor?” Rhys piped up, sounding intrigued.
“Where were you?” Mathias retorted.
Bash whistled nonchalantly. “Well, I gave him an old laptop, and the Wi-Fi password…”
Trystan slapped his forehead. “Och, are ye kidding!?”
“What! It’s better than having him peep in on us!” Bash protested.
Mathias pretended to glower, but the corner of his mouth was twisted into a grin. He pointed his spatula at Rhys and said, “Just no ordering anything. Understood?”
Rhys rolled his eyes and scowled like a teenager with an attitude. “Yes, Daddy.” Everyone cringed.
“Do not say that. Ever again.” Mathias shuddered, and disappeared back into the kitchen.
“Hey, lassie. Up a sec,” Trystan whispered to me, and I slid off his lap. “I think after all this news I deserve a beer.”
I snorted incredulously. “It’s not even noon!” I followed him into the kitchen, where he was already twisting the top off his drink.
“Och, it’s five o’clock somewhere, right?” He took a long swig and grinned impishly. I climbed up into one of the tall chairs at the counter and started picking at a plate of cheese that had been set out.
“You have a drinking problem,” Xander said, coming up next to me, swiping a piece of cheddar out of my hand, and smiling playfully.
“Hey,” Trystan said, shaking the top of the bottle at him. “I don’t have a problem with the drinking, therefore there is no problem, laddie.”
“Enough about the drinking,” Mathias said firmly. “Get to talking. Nadina is turning people into incubi?”
“Yeah, how is that even possible?” I asked.
Bash slid into the other chair on the other side of me. “She’s obviously some sort of witch.”
“But I thought she was a cambion?” Xander asked. “She’d have to be if she was with Lachlan—” I interrupted him by making a retching sound at the idea of my father with someone, “—she’d have to be a cambion.”
“Is there any other race out there that is impervious to incubi?” Mathias inquired.
Bash sighed, setting his elbows on the counter. “I don’t know. Damn. I wish I had thought to scratch her or something and get her DNA.”
“Shouldn’t their house still have… something?” I suggested.
“Maybe, but it’d have to be like, a hair with a follicle.” Bash grumbled. “Maybe she’s just a cambion and a witch. I mean, you have your own special abilities, aside from the Avalon stuff of course.”
“We can try running through there again later, after we go check out the cars,” Trystan suggested. “It’s out of the way, but if it’ll help…”
“That’s today?” Bash frowned. “Ugh, but I have all this—”
“—come on, Sebastian. Avie needs a new car, you know the most about them. Ye have to go,” Trystan said. “Otherwis
e we’ll have to rely on Mathias to intimidate any secrets out of them.”
Mathias postured proudly. “I actually have an appointment and something to do later today. So you don’t have Mathias to scare the crap out of them.”
“See?” Trystan smacked the side of Bash’s arm.
“Fine.”
“Besides, I still think you should be getting a brand-new one,” Mathias said. “You’re just inheriting someone else’s problem.”
“Och, no way,” Trystan scoffed. “The bloody thing drops in value the second it leaves the lot! It’s a rip off.”
Mathias shrugged. “Suit yourself. You can afford it, you know.”
“It’s just for now, right? I’ll find something I really like later,” I insisted, and Mathias seemed satisfied with that. “You know, it seems like we should be skipping the car thing and doing something… productive,” I said.
“We will be later,” Xander replied.
“There really isn’t anything to be done right now. The search for the spell is a dead end, and now with Nadina in the picture, I’m more confused than ever,” Bash said, with a sigh. “Just as well, I need a break.”
“Good,” Trystan said.
“But I still have some time, right?” Bash asked. “I’ll be back down when you leave. I need to…” He motioned upstairs and took off in a blur of confusion.
“So, we’re going to look at cars?” Rhys said, slipping into the chair Bash just vacated.
Mathias, Trystan, and Xander all turned to glare at him.
Rhys giggled. “Kidding! You are all so fun to mess with! Hey, what’s for lunch?”
Mathias grumbled. “The gods help me…”
“Do you know anything about any other witches that could be behind this?” Xander inquired of the wizard, before Mathias could go on a tirade.
“No, but if she’s cursing humans into incubi, she either has a tie to Avalon, or she’s been communing with demons,” Rhys replied.