Page 41 of Succubus Sins
The Dying Blood Stone
Sonya
Waking up next to Nate was the best sight I’d had in many-a-morning. His naked chest gently heaved as he drew in deep breaths. I curled into his embrace, taking comfort in the strong, steady beat of his heart. It was different than when I’d awoken to his father and mother, and a part of me felt guilty to even be thinking of that now. But when I got past the perversion of it, I had to admit this was so much better. Nate had emotion and passion. My night with his father had only been lust and a touch of desperation.
I traced the arch of his nose, so like Silvia’s, and drew a line down his solid jaw, a perfect resemblance of his father. His features held the best of his parents, and yet, as he drew his eyes open and sleepily blinked at me, I realized he was something they weren’t. Was that his humanity?
His gaze held such softness I’d never noticed in him before. He was always turning things into a joke, never taking me seriously, and seeming to generally be a giant pain in the ass. But now, as I matched his gaze with an affectionate smile, I realized he hid behind those jokes because his father didn’t approve of his humanity. How sad, to have to always hide who you were. I could relate.
“Good morning,” he breathed. Then he slid his thumb across my cheek. “You shouldn’t sleep with makeup on. I thought you were a clown for a second.”
I glowered and pulled out of his grasp. Way to destroy the moment. “I’ll get washed up,” I mumbled, keeping the sheets tight to my body and taking them with me to the bathroom. Nate’s chuckles followed me like gnats and I slammed the door to keep them out.
Sunlight streamed in through the glazed window and sent the luxurious features of the oversized bathroom into a scene of stark reality. The light revealed the stains from standing water across the delicate marble countertops, specks of ingrained dirt in the tile’s grout, and my own makeup-streaked face staring back at me in the fogless mirror.
“What you lookin’ at?” I snapped at my reflection and frowned. I snatched a pristine towel and began scrubbing my face.
“What was that, babe?” Nate’s muffled voice sounded from the other side of the door.
I rolled my eyes. “Nothing!”
When the skin under my eyes retained the dark hue from my makeup, I lathered the damp towel with soap and went at it again. What was I thinking getting so close to Nate? Was I really that fucking desperate?
I sighed and drew back the stained towel, successful in my mission to scrub my skin raw. Fresh pink glittered at me in the mirror and a small wave of satisfaction warmed my chest. Then I looked down to my necklace. The Blood Stone’s power swirled, but seemed different than before. I grabbed it and yanked the chain over my neck to get a better look. I popped the locket open and gasped.
The stone had turned blue.
“What the fuck is this?” I demanded as I burst out of the bathroom.
I hadn’t bothered to put on a robe that was hanging on the back of the door and instead of answering, Nate smirked and eyed my naked body. “Looks like somebody wants seconds,” he tilted his head. “Or to be more accurate, sevenths.”
I yanked him out of my way and pushed him back onto the bed. “I’m fucking serious. Look at this.” I dangled the Blood Stone in his face. “What did you do to it?”
He blinked, looking genuinely surprised. “What didIdo?” His wide eyes rolled to look at me. “Are you serious? You know I’m human, right?”
I released him and he rubbed his arm as if I’d bruised him. When I saw the yellow hue bloom across his arm, I realized that I actually had. “Sorry,” I muttered.
He shrugged. “Comes with the supernatural territory, I suppose.”
Feeling silly, I slunk back to the bathroom and pulled down the robe to wrap myself. Having nowhere else to go, I went to the bedside and slumped beside him.
Nate wrung his hands before speaking. “So, what do you think that means?” He looked down at his hands, his voice turning guilty. “Do you think it takes so much power not to feed on me?”
I froze. Did I seriously just drain my Blood Stone for a single night with a human? My eyes widened as I cradled the gem in my hands. Its light clearly was waning. This was all my fault.
“I could have used this to say goodbye to Sarah,” I said, more to myself than to Nate. “I’d planned to, actually. When some time had passed and she’d grown used to…”
“Being human?” he finished for me.
I nodded. Tears sprung to my eyes. “I didn’t know this would happen. I’ve lost my chance to say goodbye.” The thought of never being with Sarah again broke my heart into a thousand tiny pieces.
As tremors began to overtake my body Nate wrapped an arm around my shoulders and pulled me in. “Hey now, it’s all right. It’s like those fancy batteries you get at the specialty store, it recharges, right?”
“Regular stores sell rechargeable batteries,” I mumbled.
He chuckled. “Okay then. Bad analogy. But still, don’t sweat it, okay? If it’s all out of juice, you can just go talk to my dad and—”
I arched my neck to stare at him. Even he seemed to realize what he was saying and clamped his mouth shut.
