Page 27 of Chaos Demons

But then he pulled away suddenly. “We… should… I… need to dress,” he said, then quickly left, heading downstairs.

“What…?” I gasped after him, having not fully recovered my breath yet. “But…?”

I sighed. This was the downside to being a sex daemon. Men captured you and kissed you and got you raring to go because they couldn’t help themselves, even if they’d been on their way to do something else… like get dressed and face some mysterious, unknown, spooky dream situation.

“Fuck me…”

If only,my horny self huffed, disappointed.

I made my way out after Grey.

Reia was peeking out from her room at the back of the house, Kerberos at her side. “Mom?” Her voice was hushed and I barely heard it from the other end of the long hall. She was fully dressed in sweatpants and a baggy sweater. “I… had a bad dream.”

“People eating other people?” I guessed.

She shuddered and nodded. Then she ran to me, and I pulled her close. I guessed all of us daemons had sensed it.

Daemons…

Including Eva…

And Melinoe…

Even as I thought that, I heard footsteps above us, then coming down the stairs. Eva was still in her pajamas: a white, two-piece set with shorts and a supportive empire cami, fringed with lace under the bust. Whoever had bought that for her had put some thought into it, as it seemed to bridge that impossible gap between comfortableandsexy. Gods, she was far too much like me: an early bloomer who broke hearts left and right.

“Mom? Reia?” For the first time since she’d arrived, Eva’s voice was soft, measured, non-hostile. “I… I heard you talking about… that dream…? What’s happening?”

She seemed afraid, and fearing to break this fragile moment, I didn’t say anything, just beckoned her down and she joined my embrace with Reia.

I held my girls close, wanting to keep them safe. But some part of me knew that if they were like me, their lives were going to be very interesting and potentially… very dangerous at times.

That made me hold them all the tighter.

“I love you both, so much,” I whispered.

“We love you too,” Reia said.

“What’s happening,” Eva repeated her question. “Why do I feel like I need to fight… everyone… all the time!”

I had an idea. “Come with me and I’ll try to explain.”

For whatever reason, Eva seemed to have lost her hostility and I needed to make the most of it while it lasted.

I brought them down to the main floor, into the kitchen, and found a nice sharp knife. Without any explanation, I sliced the blade across my palm.

For all the times I’d seen it done in movies, I’d assumed it wouldn’t hurtthatmuch. I was wrong.

“Holy fucking shit! Fuck, that hurts!” I hissed through clenched teeth.

“What are you doing, Mom?” Eva asked.

Reia, of course, was already several steps ahead. “Just watch.”

I didn’t need much impetus to heal myself, making the wound close quickly. That left my palm bloody, but I quickly washed that off and showed Eva the unblemished hand.

Eva blinked. “What the fuck?”

“Remember what Reia told you about me being a daemon and you and she probably being daemons as well?” Eva blinked at me, not getting it yet. “Well, one of my powers is healing. I can heal myself or others. It’s messed up, I know, but it’s true. I also have power over sex, but I didn’t want to make my daughters feel horny to prove that one.”

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