Page 45 of Succubus Sins
Asmall crew greeted us once we’d made our way deeper into the bunker. They seemed familiar with Luke and didn’t give me more than a curious glance. Half of them played cards while the rest exchanged glances over the tops of dusty old books, their phones lifeless black bricks on the granite countertops. I guessed bunkers didn’t make good wifi hotspots.
Then I realized what was missing, what was striking me as odd andwrong. I wasn’t sexually attracted to Luke, and nobody was even a little bit interested in me. They were all young men with thin t-shirts straining over bulky muscles like they were in some kind of photo shoot for hunks’a’licious. Which was immensely odd, because the stronger the male, the more he should be attracted to me, but after one look they’d all but lost interest. I jerked my locket from underneath my blouse and ripped it open. The stone still pulsed blue as it had before. It wasn’t drained.
I closed the locket, still perplexed. Even if it had been drained, I was still a powerful succubus. These were all men ripe for the taking. What the hell?
“We can talk in here,” Luke informed me. He waved me inside a dim room and seemed completely oblivious to my dilemma.
Unease sent bile up my throat. I slipped inside and was strangely grateful when Luke closed the door and we were alone. It unnerved me being around so many strong men I couldn’t control with my pinky.
He gestured to the sitting area which was complete with decadent fruit and cubed cheese. I popped a grape in my mouth and tried to relax.
“I don’t know what I am,” he began, “but I’m not human.”
“No shit,” I murmured. “Sarah said you’d had your heart ripped out and it fucking grew back. I sure hope you’re not human. Otherwise you’re Frankenstein’s monster.”
He snapped a grape from the vine and offered it to me, for the first time giving me a glimmer of attraction behind his sparkling eyes. “Do I look like a monster to you?”
I refused to take the bait and plucked my own grape from the platter, popping it into my mouth and chewing defiantly. “No. But I have a question,” I said after I’d swallowed the morsel and deliberately ignored his question, “why lead me on a chase? You knew I was looking for you, right?”
He nodded. “You and everyone else. I couldn’t trust you not to turn me over to that bastard you call your king.” He snorted with disdain. “If you saw what he really looked like, you’d be fucking disgusted with yourself for ever sleeping with him.”
“How do you know I slept with him?” I asked defensively.
He grinned. “I didn’t until now.”
I scoffed and leaned back into my seat. “Why’d you bring me here?” I demanded, flustered.
“I told you. My mother told me to lead you here. I didn’t understand why until now. That daughter of yours had nothing good planned for you and it’s my job to protect you from her.”
“You didn’t lure me here. I came on my own.”
He chuckled. “Oh, really? I’m sorry, but no. I lured you with this.” He held up a silver chain that glittered in the light. “It calls your destiny to you. I figured the muse would pick up on it. I made sure it knew I’d be heading to New York.”
I went silent. So he knew our destinies were intertwined. Hearing him say it aloud was odd and personal, yet he didn’t seem perturbed in the least. His eyes watched me, patient and kind. It wasn’t as if he wasn’t attracted to me. I could sense something there. But without the assistance of my powers, it was all a mystery.
“Why aren’t my powers working?”
He shrugged. “There’s no sex in heaven. It’s a mortal’s gift. It’s meant to be fleeting and precious, just like any other mortal pleasure.” He nodded to the walls. “This is a piece of heaven. A very tiny, minuscule piece, but enough to change the supernatural laws once you’re inside.”
I followed his gaze and scrutinized these so-called heavenly walls which were lined by seamless mirrors. Seeing nothing out of the ordinary, I bounced to my feet and made my way to the mirror. I grazed my fingers across the surface and gasped at the realization. It wasn’t a mirror. It was a sheet of pure crystal, or was it diamond?
“What the hell is it?” I breathed.
He chuckled. “You’re brazen to curse in the presence of angelstone.”
“Angelstone?” I repeated the word as if that would help me wrap my mind around it. Then I registered that I’d just been insulted. “Who cares if I curse? It’s just a word. Just a sound humans created to express distaste. It holds no meaning.”
His jaw went taut. “Words are the most powerful thing in the universe. The entire cosmos was born by a single word. The stars, the ocean, life and death, were all born ofwords.”
I had no response for such philosophy. What did I know of the creation of life and the universe? What did I care?
My fingers grazed the cool, silk sheet of angelstone. I found myself dropping my hand to my skirt and clutching the trim-line, my fingertips feeling chilled. I was never chilled.
I turned and shot him a playful grin. “A gentleman is supposed to offer his coat when a girl gets cold.”
Luke peeled off his shirt without hesitation and offered it to me. I chuckled. “I didn’t mean the shirt off your back. That’s a whole different level of sacrifice.”
He grinned and dangled the cloth between his fingers. Even amidst the presence of angelstone, seeing his body again shot pleasure through me. Whatever had kept the air cold between us slowly melted, leaving something sweet and delicious on the tip of my tongue.
