by Melissa Haag
“I will bring that to the Council’s attention.”
I could feel Mrs. Quill’s doubt and sorrow.
“But?” I asked.
“There were witnesses last night who said you were upset after dancing with Fenris. A few overheard you tell him that you never wanted to feed from him in the first place. I’m afraid Adira will view your reluctance to feed as a sign that you’re not yet ready.”
“Reluctance? Of course, I was reluctant. I’ve never once had a choice about how or when I fed. Or even who I fed from. Who wouldn’t resist being told what to do every second of their lives?”
I stood, leaving my chocolate.
“The mark is meant to keep in those who are a threat to humans. I’m not a threat. You and I both know that. I have more control than any other succubus in Uttira. Adira only wants to keep me here because she hasn’t yet made me into her perfect little puppet. Your sister’s manipulations are going to catch up to her. And when hell rains down on her head, make sure you’re not standing too close.”
I walked out of the kitchen, too angry to care that I’d just lashed out at the woman who’d yet again opened her home to me after a heartfelt apology. It wasn’t Mrs. Quill’s fault that her sister was a control freak. I amended that thought after a moment. Maybe it was her fault. It was my fault, too, for giving Adira any measure of power in the first place.
The phone in my hand buzzed with a message.
Fenris: I’m here. Would you rather talk outside where there are fewer ears or should I come in?
I wanted to throw my phone in frustration. Instead, I marched into my room, grabbed the bag I’d packed for the cabin, and started repacking it. While I’d asked Mrs. Quill to keep Fenris out, I wasn’t sure that was something she’d be able to do. After all, the wolf had been feeding me in my sleep for weeks without anyone knowing.
As uncomfortable as it was to stay at my parents’, that might be the only option available to me until Fenris’s infatuation wore off.
The sound of raised voices reached me as I stood in the closet, and I paused to listen. It didn’t sound like Adira. The tones were deep. Curious, I moved to my room and stopped, trying to figure out what I was hearing. The sounds were coming from outside.
I drew closer to my closed window and spotted Fenris leaning against a tree. Beside him, Conall stood as naked as the day he was born, arms crossed and an angry expression on his face.
Carefully and quietly, I unlatched the window and opened it enough to make out what they were saying.
“It’s time to go. You’re needed at home.”
“Let me guess, some girl who I’ve been around my whole life is waiting for me, sure she’s going to make something special happen even though it hasn’t happened in the thousand other times I’ve scented her.”
Conall tilted his head, studying Fenris with visual confusion.
“You’re not acting like yourself.”
“Or maybe, for the first time in years, I am.”
“I doubt that. Go home, Fenris. There’s nothing for you here.”
Fenris turned his head and across the distance, our gazes briefly locked. We were too far apart for me to feel what he felt, but the look in his eyes was filled with anger and need.
My chest ached, and I struggled with an impossible urge to set my hand on the glass or to do something to let him know that I understood his torment. That I cared. But I knew how foolish any action would be on my part. It would only prolong his suffering.
So I held myself still and did nothing.
Any other creature might have taken my apparent indifference as rejection. Not Fenris, though. There was no slump in his shoulders. Instead, his jaw clenched, and a determined glint entered his gaze.
His form shimmered, and a moment later, he wore his fur. He took off at a sprint with his phone in his mouth, leaving Conall behind to deal with the remnants of his clothes.
The older wolf shook his head as he gathered up the pieces.
“Wasteful.”
I retreated to the closet before he noticed me and waited a few minutes before returning to close my window. Any trace that Fenris had been there was gone. But I knew his departure wasn’t for good. He was too stubborn to give up.
As if thinking of him called to him in some way, my phone buzzed with a new message.
Fenris: I get it. You feel angry and betrayed. That’s the last thing I meant for you to feel, but there’s still so much more you need to know. We need to talk.
Me: No. I’m using today’s stop pushing me card for this. Go home like Conall said before you make this worse on yourself.
My phone rang in my hand, Fenris’s name appearing on the screen. That he was trying to speak to me indicated his level of desperation. He needed help. And it wasn’t something I could offer him on my own.
Dismissing the call and the one that came immediately after that, I sent a new text.
Me: Can you meet me at the Quills? Don’t tell anyone where you’re going, please.
Jenna: I’ll be there in thirty.
Fenris continued to try to call me. I silenced my phone and tossed it aside.
I paced my room, my agitated thoughts racing in circles while I waited for Jenna. I still didn’t understand how Fenris and I had gotten into this mess. The very fact that I’d unwittingly fed from him in my sleep proved that I wasn’t as in control as I wanted to believe. Was Adira right then to keep my mark from me? Would I be doomed to living in this hell forever?
A soft knock on my door interrupted my thoughts.
“Come in.”
Mrs. Quill opened the door and hesitated at the sight of me.
“Jenna’s here. I wasn’t sure if I should send her up. And I wasn’t sure if that was something I should ask over the intercom.”
I took a slow, calming breath.
“I asked her to come over. Thank you for checking, though.”
“Are you all right?”
“No. Fenris was in the yard, arguing with Conall.”
“Conall?”
“One of his pack, who was telling Fenris to go home. That there was nothing for him here.”
Mrs. Quill studied me for a long moment.
“Is there nothing for him here?”
“I’m not my mom. I won’t take everything he is by continuing to feed on him.”
“You’ve continued to feed on me.”
“You’re bonded to Mr. Quill. It makes you safe.” I knew I hadn’t managed to keep every trace of doubt from my voice when I felt her pity swell.
“It would be better not to keep Jenna waiting,” I said.
“Of course. If you need me for anything…”
“I’m fine. Thank you.”
After she left, I closed my eyes and wrestled that thing inside of me into submission. By the time Jenna knocked on my door, my vision was back to normal.
“Hey, Mrs. Quill said to call her if you wanted something to eat. Are you hungry?”
I shrugged slightly. “If I’m honest, I’m always hungry.”
The admission didn’t seem to bother her as she sat on my bed, completely at ease.
“Being around Fenris couldn’t have been easy then,” she said. “I don’t have your ability to sense sexual energy, but I do have a nose. That boy smells like moonlit nights and a run through the trees.”
She sighed slightly.
“Raiden let me know what you told him. It didn’t work, though. I stayed at Fenris’s house in case he showed up, but he never came home. He wasn’t at the cabin in the woods either. Raiden checked. He said the place reeked of you, though. He wasn’t happy.” She gave me an apologetic look. “He has someone watching your house, too. I saw Conall on my way in.”
“I saw him when I came home this morning, too. Fenris was here, and Conall told him to go home.”
“Did he? Go home?”
“I don’t know. He shifted and took off, though.” I sat beside her. “I’m so sorry for what I did to him. I thought it was just
a mild infatuation, easily broken by a kiss. Now, I’m not sure. I was feeding on him in my sleep, Jenna. I didn’t know. I swear I didn’t. Not until he kissed me last night.”
I stared down at my hands.
“He needs to stay away from me. And he needs a distraction.”
“You still want me to kiss him, don’t you?”
The memory of his lips against mine clawed at my mind. My stomach twisted at the idea of Fenris doing the same to Jenna, but I pushed that feeling aside and nodded.
“He keeps texting me. Asking me to meet up with him so we can talk. I want you to go in my place.”
“That won’t work.”
“I think it will. If you get to the caves first, he won’t be able to smell you.”
“Not in the caves, but he’ll smell me outside the caves.”
“That’s why you’re here. You can wear my clothes.”
“As soon as he sees it’s me, he’ll take off.”
“Then don’t let him see. The caves are dark. Take the torches. Be clever. He needs your help, Jenna.”
She exhaled heavily. “Okay. I’ll do it.”
We found something of mine that would fit her. Then she used my shower while I danced my heart out in the clothes. It was the only effective way I knew of to ensure the clothes would smell more like me and less like Jenna.
Smelling like my soaps and wearing my sweaty clothes, she gave me a nervous smile before I used the intercom to page Mrs. Quill.
“Are you sure she’ll be okay with this?” Jenna asked. “What if she asks why?”
“Then I’ll tell her why. She’ll understand.”
“But will she go to Adira? You weren’t there when Raiden talked my mom into allowing me to go shopping with you and your mom. Raiden might be against you and Fenris, but he made it sound like Adira is very for it. I don’t think she’ll like that you’re giving up on Fenris.”
“I’m not giving up on him. I’m fighting for him harder than anyone else in his life will fight for him. He doesn’t deserve what Adira, Mom, and I have done to him. If they hadn’t messed with his schedule and forced him to spend so much time with me, I might not have ever fed on him. He didn’t ask for any of this.”
“I know you’re trying to help him. What I meant is that if Adira finds out what we’re trying to do, she’s going to stop it and throw him at you even harder.”
Mrs. Quill knocked on the door and came in before I could answer.
“Are you hungry?” she asked, concern lacing her emotions.
“Can I trust you?” I asked bluntly.
I felt her sorrow and guilt.
“Yes. You can.”
“I want you to portal Jenna to the hot spring caves and not tell Adira as soon as you’re done.”
Her hurt wasn’t just tangible but visible on her face.
“I won’t. I swear.”
She held her hand out to Jenna.
“Text me when you’re ready,” I said to Jenna.
She nodded, and they disappeared. Mrs. Quill reappeared a moment later.
“Would you like me to pick up anything for dinner?” she asked.
I knew exactly what kind of takeout she was referring to.
“No, thank you. I haven’t decided what my plans are for dinner tonight.” Mostly, I wasn’t sure if I’d be here or if I’d need to run to Mom’s if this plan backfired.
After Mrs. Quill left, I picked up my phone to check on Jenna and saw several messages from Fenris.
Fenris: Your stop pushing me cards expired when we kissed. And staying apart is what will make things worse.
I briefly closed my eyes against the pain and guilt and wished I would have kept them closed when I read the next two.
Fenris: I know you’re hungry, Eliana. Don’t run from this.
Fenris: I’m starting to think I’m going to need to cause a little trouble to see you.
I called Jenna.
“I’m here. She left me at the first pool.”
“Head back to the one he took me to the first time.”
“Okay. I’ll take the torches on the way. Wish me luck.”
“Good luck.”
As soon as I hung up, I blew out a nervous breath and sent a new text.
Me: Fine. I’ll meet with you. How close are you to the caves?
Fenris: Fifteen minutes.
Me: I’ll have Mrs. Quill portal me there in two.
I hugged the phone to my chest for a minute then set it on the bed to search for a distraction. Something, anything to keep me from thinking about what would happen in a few minutes. But there was little to do. My bag was packed and ready in case I needed to run, and I didn’t have the focus to watch a movie.
So I paced and waited, glancing at my phone each time I reached the door and again when I reached the window. The silence was torture. But so was my imagination. There could be only one reason for the quiet. I could imagine them in the cave. Naked. Bodies entwined. Moans filling the air.
I stumbled, my hunger twisting inside of me, and caught myself on the bed. The hunger wasn’t a surprise, but the unexpected surge of anger was. Mom had warned Adira never to get between a succubus and her meal. Is that what I’d inadvertently done? Put Jenna between me and Fenris?
Straightening, I resumed my pacing. Maybe I should call Megan and tell her what I’d done. I cringed. Oanen made it clear that he wasn’t okay with her discussing Fenris with me. Not that I blamed him. Before they’d left, Fenris had been pretty handsy with her.
I turned the phone in my hand then frowned down at it, unable to remember picking it up. Another cramp of pain rippled through my stomach. How messed up was I? Desperate in too many ways to even know which way was the one crippling me at the moment. Hunger? Anger? Fear? Guilt?
Sighing, I moved to toss the phone onto the bed again, but it buzzed with a new message.
Fenris: Looks like you’re the one causing trouble now. See you soon.
Chapter Five
“Crap on a cracker!” I scooped up my bag and bolted out of my room.
Mrs. Quill looked up in surprise when I raced through the kitchen. I didn’t stop to explain my rush when she called after me and hoped she wouldn’t default to calling Adira due to my odd behavior. Since that colossal pain in my backside didn’t appear beside the car as I slammed it into reverse, I knew Mrs. Quill had held off. For now. How long until she broke, though?
Using the hands-free option, I called Mrs. Quill as I broke some kind of record leaving the property.
“Eliana, is everything okay?”
“Yes and no. I’m fine, but Fenris is on his way over again, which is why I left in such a rush. I didn’t want you to have to lie to him when he shows up. Now you can honestly say I’m not home, you don’t know where I am, and you don’t know when I’ll be back.”
“Are you sure this is what you want to do?”
“Positive.”
After we hung up, I called Jenna.
“Hey, Eliana. Sorry I didn’t call sooner. I don’t think it worked.”
“What happened? Did he smell you?”
“No. That part did work. He walked right in and called your name. I didn’t answer but moved around so he would hear someone was in there, you know? I couldn’t see a thing, so I know he couldn’t either. When he entered the cave, I grabbed him and kissed him.” She let out a slow breath. “He kissed me back, so I know it was good. But then, when he pulled away, he said, ‘Tell Eliana it didn’t work, but the clothes were a nice touch.’ Before I could say anything, he took off. I’ve been searching the trees for him since then.”
“It’s okay. I knew it wouldn’t be easy. Don’t stop searching for him. I think he might be headed to my house. I’m not there, though.”
“Where are you?”
“I’d rather not say. Let me know if you catch up to him.”
“I will.”
After hanging up, I tapped the steering wheel and debated where to go. There was one place I could go. One place
Fenris would never think to look for me. Unfortunately, it was in the top ten places I didn’t want to go but in the top three places I needed to visit.
I headed toward the marshes while worrying about what I would find. I hoped Piepen had made it to his guardians’ place before Dewy caught up to him. But even if he had, would the older couple have been enough to protect the child? How could such tiny people with such amazing attributes neglect them so horribly? If I had wings and didn’t need a mark to come and go? Well, I sighed, thinking of all the places I would visit.
When I pulled into the parking lot, I could see a fresh set of footprints in the snow. I got out and glared at the small shoe prints. My insides went hot and cold at the thought of the horrible, old goblin raiding brownie burrows. I knew in my gut that he wouldn’t hesitate to rip the wings from an infant if he managed to find one. My vision sharpened, and the thing inside me shifted.
“Elbner, I know you’re in there. Get out of those reeds, now.”
A faint, outraged growl came from my left. Then the reeds rustled with vigor. Several moments later, a very angry goblin emerged.
“Megan’s been looking for you. You should go home.”
“The fury is no longer Elbner’s master,” the old crank said, crossing his arms.
“Is that because you know she won’t like what you’re doing?”
“Elbner isn’t doing anything wrong. Elbner is trading for wings, not taking them.”
The way his eyes shifted slightly to the right confirmed that he’d take them in a heartbeat if given the chance.
“Given or taken, it doesn’t matter. I warned you that Megan won’t tolerate the consumption of brownie wings, and neither do I. If you have no master in Uttira, you have no purpose here. It’s time for you to leave.”
He glared at me, his anger and indignation growing, but said nothing. His persistent, stubborn presence was statement enough, and the mutiny of it grated against that dark thing inside of me. It lifted its head, using my eyes and mouth.
“Go.”
Elbner jerked in place, turned, and started walking in the direction of the road.
