Page 142 of The Hunger
“Positive.”
Raiden faced the crowd. “Now that the succubus no longer manipulates the field, we can begin.”
My temper flared. But at that moment, I realized something very important. That dark thing inside of me was still. I focused on it. I could sense it but not touch it. And when the boy had kissed me, it hadn’t reacted.
It always reacted.
“Aubrey!” Raiden yelled. “Where are you?”
Aubrey emerged from the crowd, a hateful smirk on her face.
“I want you to switch clothes with her, Eliana,” Raiden said as she approached.
“Giving up my clothes was not part of the deal.”
“Consider it another way for me to test that the spell is holding. Seeing you naked should do nothing to anyone here.”
“I am not stripping in front of everyone.”
“I don’t think you have a choice,” Aubrey said. The purr in her tone stoked my temp further.
And I narrowed my gaze on Raiden.
“Tread carefully. The spell only lasts twenty-four hours.”
He sighed and waved a hand to the nearest house. “Will you switch in private?”
“Do you really think he’ll fall for Aubrey because she’s wearing my scent? Wouldn’t that mean it’s my scent and not my lure attracting Fenris?”
“It’s the familiarity of your clothes that will draw him to her. Not the scent on them. Her scent will do the rest.”
I rolled my eyes.
“Because today’s magical, and the last four years Fenris has been under my spell.”
“Exactly.”
He was so frustrating I wanted to pull out my own hair. Instead, I took a calming breath and reminded myself that he had agreed that today would be his last attempt to manipulate the outcome of Fenris’s mate run.
“Fine.”
I pivoted and stalked toward the house, Aubrey close at my heels. Too angry to care about manners, I let myself in and strode to the bathroom. Aubrey stopped me from closing the door with a hand on the wood.
“The whole point is for me to see you naked. To test that your lure is really gone so we know you’re playing fair.”
“I’m the only one in this place who has ever played fair,” I said, clenching my fists.
“Then what are you afraid of, succubus?”
The challenge in her eyes proved this was the test of strength that not only Raiden was looking for, but the pack as well. If I wanted to establish my place in it, I couldn’t back down from Aubrey.
“Not you,” I said, unzipping my jacket and throwing it in her face. After that, I didn’t look at her. I couldn’t. I didn’t want to see her knowing smirk at the growing flush on my face. Once I was down to my bralette and underwear, only then did I straighten my shoulders and hold my hand out for her clothes.
She was completely naked.
“All of it, Eliana.”
“If you really believe that it’s not my scent, you wouldn’t need my underwear.”
