by Sariah Skye
“Did you take these?” I asked, in absolute awe. The colors were bright and perfect, catching the perfect moment of sunset on Lake Superior.
Xander reached back and awkwardly rubbed his neck, a light flush on his cheeks. “I did,” he said in a small, humble voice.
“Amazing…” I said in complete awe.
Bash was behind me, squeezing my shoulders as he whispered not-so-quietly into my ear, “Xander here is an amazing photographer and artist…not that he’ll agree with us.”
“I see that.” I turned from the photo to stare at him, and Xander, in turn quizzically. “So…Xander is some sort of storm ninja, and a frickin’ Michelangelo—what’s your superpower then?” I gave him an expectant look.
“Bash has a knack for hacking. Anything. Anything with technology. He can also break into anything—doors, vaults—you name it,” Xander said with a smirk. “He also has an above average IQ, and can mix a potion or anything off the top of his head.”
“And you ride a bike?” I shook my head, rubbing my hands over my face, letting out a frustrated groan. I wanted to remain indifferent. I didn’t want to like these gorgeous boys. But they were making it really hard on me. Really hard. All my weaknesses for men…wrapped up in the four of them.
Bash rolled his eyes. “Yes I ride a bike. I’m a hacker nerd boy. I’m a paradox, what can I say?”
Xander snickered. “I still say you probably learned to ride on one of those arcade games.” Bash just grinned innocently, and looked away.
I snorted. I felt way too comfortable standing here, bantering with them. No, no, no…I didn’t like it. But I actually did like it, and that was the problem.
Keep it together, Avie. They’re just boys.
Boys that happen to be sexual demons.
That snapped me out of my reverie. Demons. Remember: these boys are demons.
What happened next about sent me into overdrive. If I were a lesser person, I would have jumped all three of them, right now.
Trystan sauntered in carelessly, his auburn hair messy on top of his head as he scratched at about a day’s worth of facial hair growth on his chin, revealing even more tattoos than were exposed the other day; a beautiful, feathered eagle sprawled across his thick chest. Oh yes—he wore nothing but a pair of red plaid boxer shorts. And he walked in, carrying on a conversation with a dog.
No, not a dog: A wolf. What was more? I think the wolf was understanding him as well.
“Is that—a—what?” I stammered, pointing at the large gray wolf that ambled about lackadaisically, as if he didn’t have a care in the world.
Trystan looked up, appeared surprised for only a moment before he smirked. “Oh aye lass, Nessie here is a gray wolf.”
Instinctively, I moved in front of Sierra, who was sitting calmly, eyeing the beast—well, beasts if you included Trystan—warily as they spoke. “Um…my dog is literally bred to attack wolves, you know.”
Trystan smirked lazily. “A Pyr, yes?” He said, using the shortened, common nickname for her breed of dog. I nodded slowly.
Trystan turned to Nessie—the friggin’ wolf—raised a hand. He seemed to speak with only his eyes, no words. Obediently, Nessie sat down on her hind quarters as Trystan came towards Sierra.
I lifted a brow with suspicion, remembering that I was still clutching the odd weapon in my hand.
A soft hand clutched my arm. Xander whispered quietly to me, “Just trust him.”
Trystan knelt down before the dog. Her ears hadn’t flattened, though she watched him intently. He held out a careful hand, allowing her to sniff. Sierra obliged him, not taking her big eyes off his. After a few moments, Trystan chuckled, and Sierra wagged her tail excitedly, letting out a deep bark.
“What just happened?” I asked, confused.
“Just call me Doctor Dolittle,” he said, with a wide grin.
I about fell over. “You can talk to animals!?” I about screeched excitedly.
He nodded slowly. “Before my…curse. Ye could say I was quite in tune with them. I can still communicate with them now. Your dog here—she loves you. Says you take very good care of her. She especially likes the tomato treats you make her—with the tasty spice on them?” He glanced at her one more time and she bounced on four legs, happily wagging her tail.
I widened my eyes. “She—she told you about the treats? How—” I started to ask, but waved myself off. My mother had tomato plants she grew in her house, and we frequently had a tomato surplus. Sierra loved them, so I cut them up for her, and added a little pepper seasoning. And somehow, he knew that. After everything I’ve seen, it shouldn’t surprise me. Trystan can talk to animals.
Xander is a storm ninja.
Bash is a super-hacker, some kind of potion maker and a sorta bad boy.
“What about Mathias?” I asked out loud, not realizing I had said the last three things out loud.
Bash raised a heavy blond brow. “We’ll let Mathias divulge his own powers.”
“Safe to say, he’s older and stronger than all of us here,” Trystan said, his voice lowering solemnly. “He has many demons.”
“I thought you were all demons,” I said with a defiant snort.
Trystan looked up, grinning. He rose from his kneeling position, after scratching Sierra behind the ear. “Her favorite spot, she says,” he explained.
“I see.” Trystan stood there, in the middle of the open room, completely oblivious that he was shirtless, gorgeous…with tattoos over his broad, muscular chest and stomach, I couldn’t help but stare. Hell, I was probably drooling.
Bash coughed lightly, bringing me out of my daze. I was sheepish as I finally looked away. “Put on a fucking shirt, will ya?” I told the man with the accent, trying to sound stern and defiant. Really though, I had the sudden urge to lick those washboard—
Stop it, Avie! I scolded myself in my head. “You can’t read my thoughts, can you?”
Trystan snickered. “No I cannot. Unless you’re some sort of animal shifter.” He said with a wink. “Pardon me lass while I go put on a shirt.” He called to the wolf who followed him obediently, not before turning to offer Sierra a little whimper. Trystan disappeared down a hallway that began at the furthest end of the house.
“And put on some goddamn pants, will ya?” Xander called after him, audibly annoyed. “Gonna wreck all our chances before we even get to play,” I swear I heard him mutter under his breath.
“What?” I asked. He shrugged innocently.
“Oh, nothing.”
Bash motioned to the nearest chair. “Sit down. Do you want anything?”
“We can get pizza. I’m afraid that Mathias is the best cook, and he’s not here right now,” Xander said, reaching for his cell phone in the front pocket of his jeans.
I wasn’t really hungry, but at the mention of “pizza” I swear, Bash started drooling. I bit back a grin. “Sure, pizza is fine. Is there anywhere near here that delivers?”
Xander shrugged indifferently. “We’ll find someone. There’s always an Über driver looking for big bucks. It works.”
“Sure…” was all I said, as Xander was tapping on his phone.
Bash said across from me in the open living room on another plush arm chair. Sierra sat at my feet as I leaned over my lap to pet her. I glanced out the large window at the forest view ahead of me. “That’s a pretty view,” I admired.
“It is. In a couple of weeks, the deer will feel comfortable running around the area again, once the bears are gone. Or, at least, feeling a bit lazier,” he said with a chuckle.
“Bears? Deer?” I repeated incredulously. “What exactly is going on here? With all of it? And where is Mathias?”
“Mathias was already about in the city, we sent him on to your place, to speak to your mother and friend,” Xander re-entered the conversation, tossing his phone lightly on the sofa cushion next to him before settling in himself.
I went stiff. “Um—what?”
“He just wanted to tell your family wher
e you were, so they wouldn’t worry is all,” Bash insisted.
“And…perhaps to inquire about your progeny. Maybe get something she wasn’t willing to divulge to you…” Xander said softly.
I opened my mouth to speak, and shut it again. “Could it have something to do with why Swarthy was after me?”
Bash chuckled. “Swarthy. It’s perfect because it’s true.”
I started to grin at him, but stopped. I’m sure it resulted in some sort of dorky smile instead.
“Probably. We’re not sure…but…” Xander began, and sighed. He exchanged a look with Bash who sighed.
“Just start from the beginning…” he instructed.
Xander nodded. “Years ago, the four of us were in various situations. We were approached at different times by someone, offering a perfect way out of our tumultuous lives,” he said, his voice dry and bitter as he looked away.
“Different times?” I repeated.
“Mathias is the oldest of us. He was a former Roman slave, turned gladiator. He was born with immense strength and speed—we’re not sure how, but we assume it could have been because of a witches’ spell, or just a genetic accident—whatever. He was a badass in the ring. Undefeated. Never lost. Ever. But, Mathias isn’t a fighter—or a killer. But back then, he didn’t have a choice…” Xander began, a faraway gaze in his black eyes.
“Roman? Like— a Spartacus gladiator!?” I asked, amazed.
Bash nearly choked on a laugh. “Yes, but don’t ever mention Spartacus to him!”
I cocked a brow. “Rival?”
Xander laughed, and shook his head. “No, Spartacus was about a hundred years before Mathias.”
“Wait—so…” I did the calculations in my head—sort of. I sucked at math, but I did figure out… “No way. He cannot be that old. He only looks twenty-eight or so. Thirty at the oldest!”
“The curse stopped our aging, took us to the time in our lives when we were most attractive,” Xander said. “But yes, Mathias is around two-thousand years old.”
My mouth fell open in awe. “That can’t be. You’re immortal?”
Xander considered this. “More or less. We can die, but it’s very, very hard to kill us. That’s part of the demon curse.”
“You guys really are demons?” I asked, my voice squeaking.
“Not born, but cursed. Yes.”
“Avie—” I glared at Bash when he tried to use my nickname. “Ava. Yes. We’re demons. We are demons,” he hinted.
My eyes widened. “I’m that cambion thing Mathias mentioned. No way, I’m not a demon!”
Xander sighed. “We’ll get to that.”
I ran my hands through my hair, wringing them out in front of me. “Oh balls…”
“Ava, it’s okay. Really. It’s not so bad, and it’s not what you think. We were cursed by a witch—an evil witch.”
“A warlock,” Bash offered.
Xander nodded. “Basically.”
“What is a warlock?!” I asked incredulously.
“A witch who practices negative magic. Call it evil, but specializes in curses. Like the Incubus curse we are all afflicted with. We were taunted—offered promises of a better life than what we had. Trystan was cursed against his will; caught in his animal form and forced to comply. Bash was cursed and executed for witchcraft in Colonial Virginia. Myself, I was sold into slavery when my father and I moved to America during the Gold Rush in the 1800s. I was promised a way to make money to send back to my family in China,” Xander snorted wryly.
“So…what does being an incubus actually…mean?” I asked hesitantly.
Bash sighed loudly. “Do you know anything about incubi? From stories?”
I shrugged, thoughtfully. “Mathias sort of explained it to me yesterday. Demons who have sexy time and steal the energy from women when they—” My mouth opened into a stunned O.
Xander and Bash both appeared ashamed for a heartbeat. My heart sank in my chest.
“We were forced to collect energy for these witches. For their spells. We aren’t proud of this…” Bash said quietly. “And yes, we had to sleep with women to do it.”
“How many—?” I began, but thought against it. I didn’t really want to know. “What happens to the women after you—after you…” I couldn’t say it; I felt a pang of something inside when I thought about their sexual escapades. I already heard this story before, but I wanted to hear it from the three of them, for confirmation.
Xander looked away. “They don’t die, or anything if that’s what you’re afraid of.” I let out a breath I didn’t even realize I held. “But, afterwards, they are drained for a while, tired. Especially years ago, when people were prone to so many illnesses. But the worst part of all…”
“They’re left feeling hopeless…obsessed with you most of the time. Unable to find love,” I answered for him blandly, recalling what Mathias had said to me.
“Yep.” Bash said. “We never wanted to hurt anyone, but for a time, we had no choice. Many people turn incubus—or succubus—and enjoy it. Instant attractiveness. The ability to charm anyone of the opposite sex. Mindblowing sex—for her. The human. For us it’s just…eh,” he said, with a shrug.
“The worst part is for us…we cannot fall in love with a human. That’d be the easy choice, right? Fall in love, get married, take energy from our wives?” Xander frowned. “Nope. We can only take energy once. Any more—we can kill them. So, no marriage. Not even a long string of willing partners. Once you took from one woman—that was it. If she succumbed an incubi’s advances even ten, twenty, a hundred years later—it doesn’t matter. It will drain her life essence and she will die. Some incubi don’t have any problem killing; that point of death is a lot of energy to extract.”
“We found each other over the years—well, Mathias found Trystan, I found Xander and eventually we all found each other—and we found ways of taking energy to sustain us, and not totally harm her,” Bash continued.
“By not having actual sex, but just offering her pleasure, it is enough to give us energy, but not enough for spells. And they forget us after a time,” Xander explained. “The women do. And they’re able to go on and live full lives.”
Now my eyebrows really shot up. “Oh?”
“But it’s not really sustaining…just enough so we aren’t totally weakened. Every so often we have no choice…” Xander trailed off.
“There’s absolutely no way to have a relationship with anyone? Not another—what the hell was it? Supe? What about same-sex relationships?” I asked.
“Same-sex relationships work…if you’re gay of course. Incubi over the years have found relationships with other men, and been perfectly happy,” Bash said. “But…”
“...we aren’t gay.”
“Some of us have tried over the years, but you can’t force something you don’t really feel.” Trystan re-entered, and I was somewhat disappointed to see him dressed in a pair of jeans and a gray tank; still showing off his broad chest and tattoos. Nessie followed behind him, and walked cautiously up to Sierra. They sniffed each other briefly, before Sierra turned away. I considered that a success. Nessie sat carefully nearby, laying her head on her front paws, and sighing loudly.
“So…what about another supe?” I questioned cautiously. “What about a succubus?”
The boys glanced at each other hesitantly. “Succubi and incubi will end up cancelling each other out. We can actually kill ourselves,” Trystan said.
I frowned. “And the supe?”
“There might be one, but we haven’t encountered one in years. The chance of all four of us finding one? Slim to nothing,” Xander said, his handsome face defeated.
I felt pangs of sadness for them. “I’m sorry.”
We sat in a moment of silence, before Bash clapped his hands and spoke up. “Now, about you.”
I crossed my arms over my chest. “Okay, shoot. What about me?”
“We think you are a mix of a human/incubus hybrid,” Trystan said.
&nbs
p; “A cambion is the technical term for it,” Xander explained. “A pregnancy resulting in a human/incubus doesn’t happen often. Normally, the babies are lost in utero.”
“But if your mother had any special powers—maybe that she’d been hiding?” Bash said.
I shook my head. “Not that I know of. So…what would happen to this cambion person? And you think that’s me? For sure? Mathias said something to me about it, and it makes sense, but…”
The three boys looked at each other cautiously. Whatever they were about to say was not good news.
“Because a cambion is so rare, Ava…they’re quite highly sought after in questionable supe groups. Not just because of the possible abilities but…your very blood is quite valuable for many, many spells. Sacrificing a cambion to the demons...” Trystan trailed off, his face marred with unhappiness.
I gulped. “So…that’s why Swarthy was after me?” I asked quietly.
“We think so, Avie—Ava,” Bash said quickly. “Your blood, on top of your natural abilities…well.”
I eyed him, puzzled. “Just what sort of abilities do you think I have?”
Xander smirked. My heart somersaulted inside of my ribcage. His damn smirk was so sexy. He didn’t have to do anything, and he just exuded charm and appeal. That’s probably because of the incubus magic, or whatever, Ava, I thought to myself. Even knowing that, it didn’t make his sexy smirk less appealing.
“You really aren’t aware of what you are doing, do you?” he asked, shaking his head, amazed.
I let out a low grumble. “Entertain me. Please.”
“I told you to stealth. To be invisible. You did, Ava.” Xander’s face was completely devoid of sexy smirk; he was deadly serious now.
I screwed up my face in a frown of disbelief. “I am invisible to people, but not really. People just ignore me. I didn’t really go invisible.” I bit my lip, and avoided their penetrating looks. Yeah, I did, but I wasn’t ready to admit it to them.