Page 34 of Craving Demons

“Though to be fair,” I said, doubling down on my determination to ignore those feelings. “Humans are affected differently by our powers. It depends on whether they believe in us or not. They don’t need to know the person before them is a god, but if they happen to believe in that god, they’ll be more swayed than if they didn’t happen to believe. And for most humans these days, belief isn’t as big a deal for them.”

She nodded but I could see that she didn’t really fully understand it yet.

And not knowing her birth parents didn’t help. She hadn’t grown up knowing about daemons and her power which meant it was going to take a while for all of this to sink in.

Worse yet, she could be anyone’s offspring. Aphrodite certainly had enough demi-daemons running around the world that could be one or both of her parents, but there were also other gods and goddesses of love and sex and fertility and beauty. There was also no way of telling if only one of her parents was a daemon or both.

Regardless, most daemons, whether they were male or female, rarely gave up their kids for adoption. Mostly because humans raising a daemon would be in for one Hades of a hard time once that young daemon came into their power. Although as much as it sounded like Ana’s adoptive parents hadn’t fared well with her, it didn’t sound like she’d truly manifested her powers. Which was something that was curious about her.

Perhaps she’d been controlling her powers until recently?

Except that didn’t make sense. How could she control them if she didn’t know she had them? Most daemons had to work hard to control their aspects.

“Has anything changed in your life recently?” I asked.

She grimaced. “The only thing that’s really changed is my decision to go off men and find out who I am on my own.”

“Off men?” I found myself smiling at that, liking the thought more than I probably should.

“Yeah, you can see how well that’s working out for me.”

“Indeed.” I couldn’t help myself. “And… what about me?”

“You?” She blinked. Apparently, she hadn’t considered me at all from that look which made that strange sensation in my stomach twist tighter.

“If I was a potential suitor, assuming you weren’t off men, what would you think of me?” I shouldn’t have asked, but a part of me was so drawn to her I had to know.

She cocked her head. “You’re my boss, so I’d probably trynotto think of you. But you’re also… ah… well…” A heavy blush colored her cheeks and seemed to be spreading to her entire face. I didn’t know what that meant. Was she flustered because shedidlike me or because she didn’t and didn’t know how to say it?

“Don’t worry about it, just an idle question. Perhaps some of your aspect is still affecting me.” It was, I could feel it, even suppressed. She was still ever-so-slightly too alluring to anyone who laid eyes on her, and I could feel the tickle of desire stirring within me. A desire, not necessarily for her, but to be with… someone. That was her power. She instilled lust and the need for sex into people. It just so happened she was gorgeous and would probably end up being the target of anyone who was affected.

“Oh… yeah? Ah, okay.”

I switched the topic back to her. “Nothing else changed in your life before this happened?”

“I got the job at your place,” she said with a shrug. “I can’t think of anything else more significant than that.”

That wouldn’t have done it.

Very odd indeed.

She took another sip of her drink, then smiled at me. And in that moment, just seeing her smile, I felt… content.

I blinked.

Content?

Contentment and I didn’t go together.

That’s it!I hadn’t realized exactly how she was affecting me, why I’d wanted to be near her — and not just because I desired her — but now I knew.

When I was with her, I didn’t feel empty.

The void inside me was gone and something about her fulfilled me in a way no business deal, no hunt, no other person ever had, and I wanted more. I wanted to feel that way forever. Shehadto be mine.

I leaned across the table and took one of her hands in both of mine, unable to stop myself now that I’d realized the truth.

“Ana,” I breathed, and she was suddenly looking at me just a little skeptically. I couldn’t blame her, but still, I had to tell her. The words burned in my throat, desperate to break free and be spoken.

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