The Incubus's Forbidden Mate.

Mr Peeper

CHAPTER 2.

KIAN’S POV

Turns out, the brooch was worth a fortune.

Like a lot.

I found out a week later at a reputable jewelry store in the city.

The old jeweler nearly fainted when he saw it as he referred to it as a lost artifact.

A cursed blood diamond.

“The Crimson Thorn,” he had whispered, like saying it too loudly might actually kill him.

According to him, it didn’t belong to any single culture but has appeared in it all.

And it was always the same object that caused a disaster.

But I didn't care anyway about the mythology of how people died to create or to even own it.

Even the jeweler looked at me like I should already be dead, but I didn’t care.

All I heard was one thing.

Money, money, cha-ching!

And lots of it.

.

.

.

By the end of the week, I was no longer the broke high school senior as the brooch sold at auction for a crazy price.

Rich people were that eager to die or try fate, I guess.

I also graduated with distinction, and now I'm at university with my amazing girlfriend and a proposal mere days away.

Everything was perfect, and for me, it could mean that something would soon go horribly wrong.

Or maybe it's just nerves.

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.

.

.

That night, I was walking home right after picking up the black diamond ring with the thorned band that screamed goth.

Zoey would love it.

And I'm sure she would frown at my spending even though she liked the luxurious things in life.

What a strange girl.

I was smiling to myself when it happened and a shadow of wings covered my vision.

I had a smile on my face thinking it was Maya until I looked to see an owl.

Even worse, I couldn't seem to understand the bird as it looked and felt like… it was dead.

Then it spoke.

“In twilight’s glow, a vessel waits…”

I froze as the voice was coming from inside my head.

“Caelum, the key to shifting fates…”

The owl blinked as the mechanical feel only got worse for me.

“Caelum… the key… to shifting fates…”

It repeated that line three times before flying off into the dark.

I stood there for a long moment with Maya on my shoulder.

“…Okay,” I said slowly. “That’s new.”

Maya was silent, which was this moody bird’s way of telling me not to ask her.

“You’re certain you want to marry Zoey?”

She finally speaks after a moment.

“Maya,” I said, “why are you suddenly spiritual today?”

She didn’t answer the question, but I continued walking regardless.

“I love her,” I said anyway.

“Not what I asked,” she replied inside my head.

I sighed. “She’s my girlfriend, I’m proposing. That’s how it works.”

“There’s a difference between love and attachment, Kian.”

“That sounds like therapy talk from you, Maya.”

“It is merely an observation.”

I rolled my eyes. “You’re a bird.”

“And you’re emotionally avoidant.”

“Wow, low blow Maya.”

I gasped with a hand to my chest.

We argued for the rest of the walk, mostly because of my emotional avoidance, but I refused to take marriage advice from a bird obsessed with Tom Hardy.

By the time I got to three alleyways away from the bus stop–

“You’re really doing this,” Maya said quietly.

“Yes,” I replied.

“Even after everything?”

“There’s nothing wrong with Zoey.”

Maya hesitated, that's a new occurrence.

This bird was not one to hold back her thoughts.

“Are you in love with her?” she asked.

I stopped walking.

“…What kind of question is that?”

“The important kind Kian.”

I exhaled with annoyance , praying for patience.“Of course I am.”

“Or you just planned a life with her in your head.”

“That’s literally what marriage is.”

“No,” she said softly. “That’s what safety is for you.”

I didn’t respond to that because I didn’t like where that conversation was going.

I play with the ring in my pocket.

“You’re overthinking things,” I told her.

“I don’t think about enough things,” she replied.

I snorted.

“Also,” she added in a teasing tone, “you’re still a virgin.”

I almost tripped from my outrage

“That was unnecessary!”

“It was a factual statement, especially if you're about to be married.”

“You enjoy saying that too much.”

“It’s efficient information I always need to remind you of.”

“I hate you.”

“Well, you don’t have any alternatives to replace me with, Kian.”

We kept walking as I bristled over my virginity.

I never had the chance to lose it even though I've tried really hard.

I even–

A loud and sharp scream cuts through the silent night coming from the alleyway.

I stopped with Maya also puffing herself up in anticipation.

The logical thing to do would have been to walk away and call the police.

Instead, I moved toward it.

“Don’t,” Maya warned, but I ignored her and kept walking.

“It’s probably nothing.”

“It is never nothing Kian, especially for you. ”

“Then I’ll just check.”

“That’s how horror movies start, you nitwit!”

“I don’t watch horror movies.”

“That is far much worse!”

I ignored her and walked right into the dark alley.

It's like a fog is lifting from my vision as I finally see them.

Two bright figures that were glowing oddly even without any light.

At first, I thought it was a hate crime until I realized it wasn't, it was something else entirely, and I just barged in on them.

The taller one had a hand wrapped around the other’s throat and was lifting him like he weighed nothing with his member, the only thing that connected both of them.

The smaller man was gasping, shaking, and he looked like he was caught between pain and something that didn’t look like fear.

It was… pleasure.

Uncomfortable and unfiltered one.

I know now that his shouts were not one of pain or help, they were of pleasure.

The taller man moved like something possessed at a controlled but hungry pace.

“Nghh–!”

Wow.

With the size of him, I can understand why the smaller one is screaming like bloody murder.

I should’ve left immediately when I saw them, but like a pervert, I stayed and watched.

Finally, I stepped back slowly.

“…Okay,” I whispered to myself as Maya vanished. “This is not my business.”

A sound came from behind me and I turned around too quickly and collided with something, no someone really solid.

“My eyes are up here, fledgling,” he said as I was staring too long.

“Raise your head,” he said softly. “Let me see the face of my peeper.”