Page 9 of Hellish Witch

My hips rolled as I let the sultry pulse move me. Being part succubus had some perks, like an ingrained sense of rhythm strong enough to overcome my natural talent at making anything awkward.

I took a sip of the mystery punch in my glass as I swayed on the makeshift dance floor, savouring the fruity sweetness masking the sear of alcohol burning down my throat.

I could use all the potency to help numb my thoughts. Since killing the merchant last week, I’d been even more on edge, and not just because a certain incubus had been suspiciously quiet about it.

I’d not even had a chance to ask himhowhe’d found me that night. Had he stumbled across me in the woods by chance? Or had Rex had the stealthy enforcer keeping tabs on me?

Voices layered together as clusters of demons laughed and chatted around the hazy room, draped across the rustic dining table and huge sofas pushed to the edges.

Whooping and hollering. Drinking and dancing. Carefree.

Their easy smiles knifed through my vision. So I closed my eyes, willing the alcohol to work for once.

Everything else might be fucked, but for some reason, my body still healed itself. Alcohol was technically poison, and my innate magic couldn’t let me have a single break, apparently.

I’d returned to Hell two months ago, but I couldn’t seem to fit myself back into the life I’d known. The Hybrid Kingdom was exactly how I’d left it.

I was the one who’d changed.

“There you are.” A masculine huff yanked me from my dim thoughts.

Joachim reached for me, all four sweaty palms gluing straight to my hips and the little cutouts slicing along the clingy material of my black dress. The blood demon pushed his fingers through the gaps, and I swallowed the rising bile at his overwhelming touch.

I’d thought dating a guy with four arms would be fun, but I supposed I had another regret to add to my list.

He grinned, slit pupils blown wide and glassy in the flickering candlelight from the bone chandelier above. “I’ve been looking for you.”

And I’ve been hiding from you.

“Well…you’ve found me now.” I stretched my lips in an approximation of a smile.

The distinct sugared-apples flavour of his lust seeped into me, strengthening my demonic side, which in turn fed my human magic.

Being only half-succubus, I found it harder than most to feed on the invisible currents of desire others gave off, but touch helped. Though, not many demons usually threw their attraction my way. Especially given my almost human looks and the misfortune that seemed to plague my exes.

Sometimes, I wondered what my life would have looked like if my father had cared that I’d been born. If he’d taken me to grow up amongst mages in the human realm instead of leaving me to my unstable mother in Hell.

Would I have fit in with them any better? Or would I have been just as much an outsider as I was now?

Too human for demons. Too demon for humans.

Joachim’s sweet lust flowed stronger, sickly enough for saliva to pool in my mouth. Too many hands ran down my body. The demon leaned in close, and his wet tongue slicked a line up my neck.

I shuddered, and he huffed an amused chuckle, mistaking my reaction for want.

“Let’s find somewhere private. I know you’re starved for me, baby,” he purred in my ear, and spiders crept down my spine. “I’m not afraid to keep roosting with thewidow-witch.”

I grimaced at the nickname.

My exes had a tendency to end up near dead, usually within days of breaking up with me or after a bad fight. None of themhad said a word about what happened, no matter how hard people pressed them for answers.

Even I could admit it looked suspicious, though I was always the one to heal them afterwards. People had started calling me the widow-witch, after a bright-red bird native to the Bloodwood.

The females had a fun little tendency to eat their partners’ organs if they weren’t pleased with their…performance.

I pulled back, trying to hold myself together as Joachim’s claws scraped over my sides, touching even more skin. “Maybe later… I…”

“Come on, Eve. I know you’re not gonna be a flaming tease again.” Irritation edged his tone, and I found myself trying to dislodge his many hands.

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