Among Demons : Succubus Divine

Ch. 31 : Woman on the Inside

*Hannah Milton*

Things just weren’t going my way and I was close to snapping at anyone near me out of pure frustration and anger.

It's been far too long since Marcus broke our engagement and he still refuses to talk to me. He’s been avoiding my calls and texts and even uses my stupid step-brother and his other friend to keep me from knowing where he is so we could talk things through. And the few times that I was able to catch him in his office he would simply brush me aside, claiming that he was busy before sneaking away from me.

But I wasn’t going to quit so easily.

Marcus Ciaran was the ideal man for me and the future I have planned for myself. He not only comes from a long line of Hunters from his fathers side of the family, but he’s also one of the most handsome and talented men I’ve met. He rose into his current position quickly all thanks to pure skill and while we were together I wasn’t blind to the jealous looks I would get when other women would see him holding me. He was attentive and a perfect lover that gave in to my demands whenever I would give him bits and pieces of what he likes. He was also easy to manipulate thanks to his father who has taken my side in nearly every tiny little fight we would get into. I wasn’t about to let go of such a prized man like that when no one else could replace him.

And now that I have earned the full trust of his father, Nathan, I knew that becoming his wife was exactly what I wanted.

The Ciaran family was one of the first to begin training and start Hunting Demons when those Portals first appeared all those years ago. And Nathan, having been the only son born into the family before his parents died, made it his mission to weaken all demons in any way he could. So I was only mildly surprised to learn that he had purposefully seduced and tricked a woman from the Wilmont family and made her his first wife. The woman named Dawn was the youngest daughter of a large family of Guardians that had sided and supported Demons, helping those that crossed through the Portal so they would understand how our Human world worked. Nathan had admitted to me that he had kept his true identity a secret and slowly killed off his young wife's family before they conceived Marcus. But sadly the stupid woman somehow caught wind of her husbands involvement in her families death and tried to go into hiding with the help of some Demons she had befriended years before meeting Nathan.

It was only through luck that Nathan had found his young son after his wife’s death. And with his new, sterile wife helping him raise Marcus, he had hoped that he could turn things around for the Ciaran name. But when Marcus suddenly became more curious about his mother, asking questions about any other family members he could have on that side and even going to the library to dig into the Wilmont name, Nathan did something else that only mildly surprised me.

He captured and tortured an older traveling Sorceress and made her make a potion that locked away all memories about Marcus’ mother. He had hoped that doing this would allow his son to become a man that he could trust with the heavy weight of leading the many Hunters loyal to the Ciaran family.

Annoyingly, though, Marcus’ one terrible flaw was his general kindness and accepting nature. This one and only weak point as a potential partner for life that makes things so much harder for me and his father. He was much too calm around these damned things and never seemed bothered by the Demons that walk freely in our home. He even calmly accepted that a filthy little Succubus was reassigned as his coworker, going so far as to not even set limits for the little skank and allowing her into his team's office room.

The fact that the Succubus in question was the wretched little slut from my High School only made matters worse.

I had befriended the girls working at the reception desk to keep an eye on my man for me and even called in a few favors with some interns that walked all over the building. They had all told me how close that damned Succubus had become to Marcus and his team and how friendly they all appeared while working together. I had even seen him and my stepbrother spending time together at an arcade bar one night with that thing and her weird friend. It didn’t sit right with me that she was getting close to him after she had taken one of my boyfriends while we were students. She could even be using her dark little powers to force my future husband into doing things with her without him knowing.

“I completely understand your worry, my dear.” The older woman next to me chatted, pulling me back from my fuming thoughts. “It still bothers me deeply that my sister let herself be tricked by one of those things, but to think that she allowed that filthy monster to grow within her womb and bring her into this world…” She shook her head before taking a sip of her coffee, looking disgusted. “The fact that she looks exactly like her manwhore father makes everything worse too.”

I stared at the older woman as she frowned at her drink, setting it down and ripping open another sugar packet to add in.

Her name was Olivia Klement and my soon-to-be father-in-law had allowed her to join our cause and become a merchant for our Hunters, as well as an informer for me. I needed to know anything useful about that damned Devin b***h so I could regain my place beside Marcus. I didn’t want to risk that Succubus slut using her powers to weasel his heart away from me when it hasn’t even been that long since our engagement was broken. So talking to his aunt who hated her just as much as I did was the best possible option for me.

So far, though, I was only able to learn a few things about Devin that weren’t as useful as I had hoped.

I already knew that her closest confidant was that stupid Human guy that she claims is her brother. I also knew that she had some kind of connection to the current Matron of Demons in the city, which could end up being a much bigger prize for me later. She was mostly surrounded by other Demons who weren’t willing to share anything with a Human, not even for money. And the only other Humans I could think of that were close to her were either married to Demons, or indebted to her for one reason or another.

Her aunt did reveal that she had placed a curse on Devin when she was younger but that would only really work if she was to find her Match. So I was once again in the dark about what to do to get rid of her.

“Oh, that poor naive thing.” I raised a brow at Olivia's sudden sympathetic tone and followed her line of sight.

She was staring through the window at a young woman that appeared to be close to my age. She was a little brunette with clear blue eyes that was exiting the mini mart across the street from us. It looked like she was uncomfortable as she lugged the bags of chips and bottles of liquor into her car before locking it and looking towards the coffee shop we were in.

“Is she anyone I should be concerned about?” I asked casually, losing interest as the brunette crossed the road.

“Not really.” Olivia sighed, turning back to smile at me. “She’s just an unfortunate little thing that married that Nicolas boy.”

I froze, my head snapping over to the blue eyed woman in question as she lined up to order.

“Nicolas Carnia?” I demanded, feeling a smile begin to stretch my lips. “Devins so-called brother?”

Olivia nodded and started ranting about how annoyingly loyal Devins ‘brother’ had been to her since they were kids. But I ignored her words and focused on the girl now standing at the counter.

She looked stressed with the wheels in her head turning over and over as she waited for her drink. At one point she pulled out her phone and smiled a little when she read a text. But that smile turned into a scowl when something came across her screen that angered her. She shoved her phone back into her purse before sighing heavily, looking deflated and defeated.

“Iced mocha cappuccino for Holly?”

Her head snapped up and she smiled weakly for the employee behind the counter, taking her drink and making her way towards the door.

I got up quickly, brushing off Olivia's attempts to follow me, and rapidly made my way towards the still bitter looking woman. I wondered as I approached her if she could be of use to me and filtered through the many ways I could test to see if she was a Demon-lover like her husband or if she was more sensible.

“Excuse me!” I called out, smiling when she turned to look at me. “I’m sorry to bother you, but do you know a woman named Devin?” I watched carefully as she flinched at the sound of her name and I smiled a little wider. “She’s a Demon actually… a Succubus that works at the Police Station a few blocks from here….”

“Yes.” She answered stiffly, trying and failing to mask her discomfort and disgust with a smile. “I know her… why? Did you need something?”

I moved a little closer and took her hand in mine, giggling a little at her shock.

“Yes… I urgently need some help…” She searched my face and looked ready to back away from me, until my next words stopped her. “I need help getting rid of that dirty little skank…”

She straightened up a little and a spark of something I guessed to be excitement made me smile even more. But she still looked cautious which was good for me. It let me know that she wasn’t stupid enough to just take my word for things and let me know that she was going to be quite useful.

“I’m betting that she’s making things difficult for you and your husband… right?” She stiffened again and bowed her head a little, tightening her grip on my hand. “She has a bit of a history of taking men that don’t belong to her.” That made her snap her head back up and a look of pure rage took over her clear blue eyes. “She stole my boyfriend from me when we were in High School… and now she’s making moves on my fiancée who works in the same building as her.” I took her other hand and played up my hurt and sympathetic appearance, seeing a well of tears begin to form in her eyes. “Has she… taken your husband too?”

That final question broke the damn in her and she weakly sobbed as I wrapped my arms around her.

“He’s so focused on her…” She whimpered, sniffling as she clung to me. “He refuses to push her out of our lives and never takes my side when I try to force her away!” I nodded and patted her back, smiling on the inside as she kept going. “She’s an evil slut and Nick won’t open his eyes to see the truth!”

“I understand…” I told her, letting her get it all out before continuing. “I know just how hard it is for you… but I have a way to make her disappear without your husband ever knowing that you were involved.”

“Really?” She sniffled, wiping at her tears. “How?”

“I have some friends that have been hurt by her.” The rage returned to her eyes at this little lie but I kept going. “They want pay back for what she’s done, so they plan on k********g her and making her pay for hurting so many people.” This made her waver and she stepped back a bit, looking nervous. “All you need to do is lead them to a secure place to ambush her and then she’ll be gone.” She started to chew on her lip a bit and I could see that she was backing away from taking part in such a simple plan. “Your husband will never know! And you’ll never have to worry about that woman breaking apart your relationship!”

I tried to sound as confident and convincing as possible, but she still looked apprehensive.

“I… I don’t know…” She hugged herself as she sniffled, smiling weakly before steeping around me towards her car.

“It’s ok.” I decided then to take on a different approach, knowing that it was better to be patient than to potentially expose myself by rushing things. “Take all the time you need to think it over, ok?” I used my free hand to fish through my bag and pull out a notepad and pen, jotting down my number and name then folding the paper before handing it to her. “Just call me if you’ve made your decision.” I smiled and nodded when she took it, adding on a little, “Or call me when you need someone to talk to.” She could very well be the only close tool I could use to rip that woman away from my fiancé and maybe even use her as bait to bring out the Matron as well.

She nodded and smiled, taking the tiny page and tucking it away in her pants pocket.

I stayed where I was as she climbed into her car, waving at her as she drove away before dropping my smile.

Now all I had to do was wait.