Succubus Happens

Chapter Eleven

Aurelia drives us to the town line. It’s on the opposite side of town than the cabin where Alex is currently chained up, so I feel safe. Granted, I’d probably feel safe with Lily and Aurelia surrounded by a pack of angry wolves, given their magical capabilities. We get out of the car and Aurelia goes to stand in front of the WELCOME TO NORTH GROVE sign.

She looks over at us. “Go ahead and cross, don’t be shy.”

I follow Lily over the line and shove my hands in my back pocket. I’m slightly nervous. I don’t know what the plan is here. I don’t know how to handle myself.

“Are you nervous, sweetheart?” Aurelia asks me.

I shrug. “A little.”

“What are you nervous about?”

“Magic. This is new to me and yes, this is something I want to know how to do so that I can protect myself, but it’s scary.”

Lily nods. “Are you scared because it’s new or are you scared because you’re unsure if you’ll be able to control it?”

I swallow. “A little bit of both.”

Aurelia smiles and pats my cheek. “Don’t worry, dear,” she says. “That’s what we’re here for.”

“What kind of magic is it?” I ask. “Do I have the ability to cast spells or what?”

“No spells,” Aurelia says with a slight chuckle. She glances at Lily. “You have the most experience. Why don’t you tell her?”

“Of course,” Lily says, crossing to me. “Like I mentioned before, the Succubus’ power does not only stem from the s****l energy that you feel pulse through you at times. It comes from within you. It’s dormant at times, but can be called up in moments of danger or heightened emotions. Cheesy as hell, but true.”

“Like with Alex at the Den.”

Lily nods. “Yes,” she says. “You don’t exactly have super strength like the twins like to call it, but it’s more along the lines of a force that drives you when you attack. Most of the time, you’re you…not overly strong…normal. But when you’re scared or excited, your power kicks in. When you take in someone’s energy it makes you stronger and you become less susceptible to attack. If you take enough in and store it away, you can call about that reserve of power to fight.”

“And how do I do that?” I ask.

“With a lot of practice,” Lily smiles.

“So I’m going to be in danger.”

“We’re going to trick your brain into thinking you’re in danger.”

“You’re going to mess with my brain?” I ask, slightly worried.

“You can trust us,” Aurelia says. “We are very old. We’ve done this before.”

“Not with a Succubus,” Lily says. “But with other species.”

“Uhm…”

Lily grins. “Don’t worry,” she says. “We will never let anything bad happen to you. You’re family.”

☽

We’ve been out here for hours. Again and again, my adrenaline starts to rise and I feel the power surge through me. Trouble is, I don’t know how to control the flow of it from my hands to Lily. I’ve knocked her on her ass twice now…both unintentionally.

“I’m sorry!” I cry out in a panic. I run over to her and attempt to help her up.

Lily grunts and puts out a hand to stop me. “No,” she says. “I can do it.”

Aurelia laughs from her chair by the car, knitting. She glances up at us. “You can stop at any time,” she says.

“No,” I shake my head. “I need to get this.”

“At my expense though?” Lily asks.

“You can take it,” I say.

“I don’t know,” she says. “You’re pretty damn strong.”

“But it’s not on purpose!”

“Exactly! Think what you could do if you actually wanted to hurt me.”

I sigh. “I said I was sorry,” I say, slightly pouting.

Lily grins and pulls me into a hug. “It’s okay, mio amore,” she says. “We’ll get you there eventually.”

“One last try. Close your eyes,” Aurelia says, getting to her feet. She crosses from her chair to where Lily and I are embraced. Lily releases me and I close my eyes, immediately obedient. “I want you to focus. Think about your family and friends and all the people you care about. Now imagine all of them being in danger…”

My blood starts to pump a little faster in my veins. My heartbeat begins to pick up speed as images flash through my mind. Adrenaline rushes through me.

“And now, imagine that you have the possibility to stop it. Stop the suffering…stop the pain. By going after the one responsible.”

I open my eyes and I see Alex standing across from me. He’s wearing a smirk and he’s staring at me with disdain…and hunger. I swallow.

“All you have to do is focus, Daphne,” Aurelia whispers in my ear and chills run through my body.

I swallow and take a step closer to him.

“You really think you can hurt me?” Alex asks me. “I’d like to see you try.”

Fury bubbles through me, not fear, and I bring my hands to my chest before thrusting them outward in his direction. A wave of energy. shoots from my palms and hits Alex square in the chest. His body flips over and disappears before he hits the ground. I take a deep breath and then turn around to face Lily and Aurelia.

“See…” Aurelia says. “You just needed a little encouragement.”

Lily grins. “Yeah, I am extremely happy that I was not on the other side of that blast.”

I laugh. “You and me both,” I say. “What was he? What did I hit?”

“Illusion,” Aurelia says.

“And why couldn’t we have used that the entire time?” Lily asks.

Aurelia shrugs. “I didn’t think about it until now,” she says with a smile.

Lily narrows her eyes at her. “You just wanted to make me work for it,” she says.

“No, I wanted to see if you still had it in you,” Aurelia corrects her. “You’re quite old.”

“You’re older than I am!” Lily exclaims.

“Well, yes, but I’m me,” Aurelia winks at me playfully.

I grin and stretch my hands over my head. “I think maybe we should call it for the night,” I say. “I’m exhausted.”

“You’re exhausted?!” Lily asks me.

I hold my hands up in defense and fight to hold my laughter in. “Okay, obviously not as exhausted as you…but you have to remember this was my first time. It look a lot out of me.”

“Fair point,” Lily shrugs. She looks at Aurelia. “You good to go?”

Aurelia nods. “Yup,” she says with a smile. “Let’s go. I’ll make us some dinner back at the house.”

“I have never been more okay with a plan than right now,” I say heading toward the car.

Lily laughs as she links her arm with mine as we head toward the car.

“Good, I’ll teach you how to make Carter’s favorite,” Aurelia says with a smile.

“Which is…?”

“Chicken and Dumplings.”

☽

It takes me a few dozen tries, but I finally perfect the dumpling. Or at least, it’s as good as it’s gonna look. Which isn’t terrible, but not beautiful. Then again, I’m comparing my work to that of a witch who’s been making them since the Great Depression.

“No need to pout,” Aurelia tells me, slightly bumping my hip. “It takes practice.”

“Plus, it’s all going to the same place,” Lily says. “So pretty doesn’t matter.”

“Presentation matters,” I say.

“Not with the boys,” Aurelia says. “They won’t even notice. Put a bowl in front of them and they’ll scarf it down in a matter of moments.”

“That’s why we’re making a big batch,” Lily says with a grin. “God, those boys can eat.”

“No kidding,” I say, laughing.

We work and talk the next hour or so, leaving the chicken and dumplings on the stove to simmer and stay warm. After we eat our share, Lily curls up on the couch and falls asleep almost immediately. I feel somewhat guilty…I did kind of accidentally kick her ass today. I told mom that I’d be at Lily’s so I don’t have to go home, which is nice. I feel too tired to even drive to short distance home.

Aurelia comes into the living room and smiles at me. “You can sleep up in Carter’s room if you want.”

“You sure he won’t mind?” I ask.

She lets out a soft laugh. “Absolutely sure he won’t mind,” she tells me. “Come on.”

I follow her up the stairs and into Carter’s bedroom. It’s a simple room, a few movie posters hanging on the walls from classics from the eighties and earlier. His bed is in the corner of the room, a green and white comforter on top.

“Titan colors,” I comment.

Aurelia smiles. “Tried and true, that boy,” she says. She goes to his dresser and pulls out one of Carter’s t-shirts for me. “Go ahead and get some sleep. Carter should be back by the time you wake up.”

“Thank you,” I tell her. “For the shirt. And for everything else.”

Aurelia smiles. “No need to thank me, baby,” she says, reaching out and touching my cheek. “Sleep tight.”

“You too.”

When she leaves, I change into Carter’s shirt and turn around to stare at the bed. Even though he’s not here right now, I have butterflies in my stomach looking at it. I mean, it’s Carter’s bed. He’s slept here.

Relax, I tell myself. It’s fine. It’s just a bed. I take a deep breath and draw the covers back before climbing into bed. His pillow has his scent and it envelops me, calming my nerves. It’s like he’s with me and that in itself is relaxing enough for me to fall asleep.

☽

I wake up to a kiss. It’s so brief and gentle, that I think it’s a dream, but then it happens again. My eyelids flutter open and I see Carter smiling at me.

“Hey…” I whisper, trying to fully wake up. I turn over and face him, nestling into his chest.

“Hey sunshine,” he says, wrapping his arms around me.

“What time is it?”

“It’s still early,” he answers. “You don’t have to wake up just yet.”

“Okay,” I close my eyes. “Did you have fun?”

“I did.” His fingertips brush at my hair to move it behind my ear. “Missed you though.”

“Mhm,” I murmur.

“What did you do?”

“We left town,” I answer. “I blasted Lily and Alex.”

“What?” Panic is clear in his voice and I realize what I’ve said. s**t. It was supposed to be a secret. I open my eyes and shake my head.

“No, not in the way you’re thinking,” I tell him. “It was an illusion. It wasn’t really Alex.”

He relaxes…only slightly. “What do you mean by blasted?”

“I apparently have powers,” I tell him. “Really cool powers.”

“Do you now?”

“Yup.”

“And, uh, why didn’t anyone tell me you guys were going out of town?”

“Because they knew you’d say no.”

“Damn right,” he says. “What if something happened?”

“Nothing was going to happen,” I tell him. “Aurelia and Lily were there. I was well protected if something went wrong.”

He sighs. It’s a frustrated sound. I reach up and touch his face and he meets my eyes. “I’m sorry,” he says.

“I need you to stop stressing out about me,” I say. “You’ll get grey hairs.”

Carter rolls his eyes at me. “Don’t even tease about that.”

I grin. “I have to be able to protect myself,” I say. “If something happens and you’re not there.”

“I know,” Carter nods. “I just don’t want that to ever be an issue.”

“You can’t watch me every minute of every day.”

“I can try though.”

“No.”

“What do you mean, no?”

“I mean that you have to look out for yourself, too,” I tell him. “Not me all of the time.”

He narrows his eyes at me, but doesn’t say anything. So I narrow my eyes at him. We hold up the staring contest for a little bit before his face softens.

“Well, I guess I should be happy you were with Lily and Aurelia,” he says. “I wouldn’t have left you if I didn’t think they could protect you.”

“See? Worried for nothing,” I say with a smile. I kiss him softly before resting my head against his chest.

“Did you do anything else I should know about?”

“Well, I found out about soul mate tattoos and helped make chicken and dumplings.”

He stiffens. I’m not sure if it’s from anxiety or anger. “You what?”

“Make chicken and dumplings?”

“The other thing.”

“Oh, right. Yeah, the soul mate tattoos.”

“Yeah…” he says. His voice is definitely anxious. “What exactly did you find out about the tattoos?”

“Well…that it shows up during the most intimate moment between two people,” I say. “That usually only means one thing.”

He clears his throat. “Yeah…”

I tilt my head to look up at him. “I don’t know how I’ll respond,” I tell him. “You saw how I reacted when you kissed me.”

“That was with my bracelet off,” he says.

“What if it falls off?” I ask him. “I could seriously hurt you. I could take too much…energy or whatever.”

“We don’t have to do anything right now,” he says. “I’ve waited a long time for you, Daphne. I’m not rushing anything with you.”

“I want to be able to control myself,” I say. “Besides…what if…”

“What if we’re together and nothing happens?”

He knows me so well.

I shrug. “Yeah.”

“Then nothing happens. That doesn’t change the fact that I love you.”

“But it means we’re not meant to be together,” I tell him. “That means there’s always going to be someone that’s going to come along and I’ll lose you forever.”

“Oh god, Daphne,” Carter chuckles as he pulls me tight against him. “That isn’t going to happen.”

“You…”

“Don’t tell me that I don’t know that,” he says. “That happening would require me to be unfaithful to you and that is never happening.”

His voice is firm and his tone is serious. He isn’t messing around. I don’t know why I’m surprised. This is Carter we’re talking about.

“Sorry.”

“I’m going to need you to relax,” he says with a chuckle. “You’re going to get grey hairs.”

I laugh. “No way, old man,” I say. “No grey hairs for a long time.”

“I look forward to causing them,” he says, bringing his lips to mine and kissing me gently. “I told you, I love you.”

“I know…I know.”