by Sarah Carter
She sets her stuff in her suitcase. Alex comes over and turns her toward him. “You look sad.”
“No, not sad,” Claire retorts, putting on a smile. “Tired. A little tired. It’s late.”
“We can go to sleep,” Alex murmurs. “That’s fine.”
“Okay,” Claire whispers, looking up at him. He brings up his finger and traces it down her jaw line. That small sensation makes Claire’s chest tighten. Alex looks into her eyes and then leans down to kiss her. Claire doesn’t hesitate this time. She pulls him against her and kisses him fiercely. Alex gives in, frantically returning her affection.
Then it’s like a whip, Claire feels Alex push his energy into her. Claire quickly brings her energy in and shuts it down. Alex pulls away from her. “Don’t do that.”
“Do what?” Claire asks quietly.
“Shut me out. Just put your guard down. I’m not going to hurt you.”
Claire looks at him, and says, “I’m scared.”
“Of what?” Alex replies, softly.
“What it will really feel like. What if we can’t stop?” Claire asks. “I really want to wait to have sex again. I need to be engaged or married. It needs to be serious.”
Nodding, Alex whispers, “That’s fine, but we can feel each other’s energies. It doesn’t have to lead to sex.”
“What if it’s too much?”
“Then we stop. Just try it, okay?”
“Okay.” Claire kisses him again, and it heats up really fast. As soon as Alex pushes his energy into her, Claire does the same thing back. It takes her breath away. She can feel him in every ounce of her being. It makes her feel whole inside.
In an almost euphoric haze, Claire can only concentrate on his energy. She starts to pull on it because she wants it more—lots more. It ignites every nerve in her body. It’s all she can think about.
Alex drops to the floor. It takes Claire a second to realize what’s going on. Her head feels really cloudy and she can’t concentrate. When her eyes focus, she screams.
“Alex?” Dropping to her knees, she yells, “Alex? Alex, wake up!”
He doesn’t move. Claire leans over and puts her head on his chest. She can hear the rhythmic drum of his heart. Sitting back up, she starts to tap him. “Alex? Alex? Come on! What’s wrong?” He still doesn’t move. “I have to get help!”
A knock on the door startles her. She quickly runs over to it and throws open the door. Damien is standing there, holding her phone out. “You forgot this.”
“Help! Something is wrong with Alex!” she screams.
Getting a very serious look on his face, Damien pushes her out of the way and runs over by Alex. “Alex? Alex!”
“His heart is beating but he won’t wake up!” Claire cries.
Damien takes out his phone and presses a number. “We have a medical emergency in room 322. Send help immediately. The patient is unresponsive.”
“Alex, please…” Claire falls down next to him. “Wake up!”
This time Damien puts his ear on Alex’s chest. “His heart sounds strong and even. He’s just unconscious.”
A weird sensation starts to ripple through Claire. It then dawns on her that she still feels Alex’s energy. “Something’s wrong,” she whispers, holding her head.
“What?”
“I still feel him,” Claire replies in a whimper. “I feel his energy, like he’s still pushing it inside of me.”
“That’s impossible,” Damien retorts. “You aren’t touching him.”
Claire shakes her head. “No—I swear I feel it.”
The energy ripples across her skin, and she cries out and falls to her hands. Then the feeling Claire has only felt a few times courses through her and before she knows it, she has shifted.
Damien freezes. “Claire—why did you just shift? I mean…you’re a dog.”
The energy whips out of her again, and she shifts into something else. When she opens her eyes, she’s staring down at paws. Large paws. Cat paws.
Claire starts to freak, and before she knows it, she has shifted again.
Damien stands up. “Claire, stop! You’re going to hurt yourself.”
She can’t help it. The energy inside of her pushes out again and again, making her shift every time. Damien rushes over to her. Finally, the energy starts to ebb. All Claire can think about is being herself again. With that, she shifts one more time.
“Damien?” is all that she can exhale as she falls over.
“Claire!” he yells back, grabbing her up into his arms. “Stay with me—don’t go under!”
Unable to help it, her consciousness slips away. The last thing she hears is, “Help her first! We have two patients, but attend to her first!”
Then, silence.
Chapter 8
Claire feels foggy and sleepy. She opens her eyes, but they’re too heavy, and she closes them again. Time passes and when she opens them back up, it actually takes a few seconds for her eyes to focus. She’s in a white room.
Stirring, Claire tries to sit up.
“Hey, hey, hey,” a voice says. “Take it easy. Stay down.”
Her gaze drifts to the right and she finds Damien. “What’s going on?”
“You’re on one of our space ships,” Damien replies. “We rushed you here.”
Grabbing her head, Claire mumbles, “What happened?”
“You started shifting uncontrollably and then passed out.”
“Why?”
He shakes his head. “We don’t know.”
“I don’t understand,” Claire whispers, sitting up.
“Honestly, I can’t tell you what happened. I showed up to find Alex on the floor…”
“Alex?” Claire screams. “Where is he? Is he okay?”
Damien takes her hand. “Shhh. It’s alright. He’s here. Alex hasn’t woken up yet, but he’s being monitored. Somehow he was drained of all his energy.”
“What do you mean?”
“He had absolutely no energy left in him.”
“That’s impossible,” she whispers.
Shrugging, Damien says, “That’s what we thought, too, but that’s the only thing we can find wrong with him.”
Tears start to brim over in Claire’s eyes. “What happened to us?”
“I don’t know. I need to know what exactly happened. The smallest detail could be important.”
With hesitation, Claire whispers, “That’s kind of private.”
Raising his eyebrow, Damien replies, “You had sex?”
“What?” Claire exclaims. “No.”
“I was just asking.” Damien puts his hands up.
“We weren’t even gone from you guys that long,” Claire snaps.
A grin passes over Damien’s face and he shrugs. “You never know. I don’t know much about Alex and what he can do.”
She slaps him on the arm. “Don’t be ridiculous.”
Damien laughs, and Claire has a really hard time keeping a straight face.
Finally, patting her hand, Damien says, “Alright, no sex. Tell me what happened.”
“Well…” she starts. “I kissed you, obviously.”
“And then ran off with another guy,” Damien continues.
“It wasn’t even like that,” Claire groans.
Giving her a look, Damien says, “Then what was it like?”
“He freaked out and I had to go after him.”
“And leave with him?” Damien retorts loudly.
Claire closes her mouth and glares at him.
Damien exhales. “You kissed me, saw Alex, ran after him and left. What’s wrong in those facts?”
Claire crosses her arms. “Nothing, but…”
“But what?” Damien calmly replies. “You left with another guy.”
“It’s not like it matters,” Claire mumbles, picking at the blanket on top of her.
There is a pause and then Damien harshly says, “Excuse me? My hurt feelings don’t matter? Thanks.”
Wide-eyed, Clai
re looks up at him. “Hurt feelings?”
“Yeah,” Damien responds. “I kissed you…very passionately…and you left with another guy. How am I supposed to react to that?”
“But…”
“I’m not supposed to have hurt feelings?”
Slightly confused, Claire says, “I didn’t think it mattered to you.”
“Why wouldn’t it?”
“Because you’re you,” Claire mutters.
Damien puts his head on the bed. “Claire, I haven’t kissed a girl in over a year. So kissing you is a pretty big thing.”
“I’m so sorry,” Claire whispers. “I didn’t even think about that.”
He looks back up. “I have one question. How would you feel if I kissed you like that, then turned around and left with another girl?”
“I’d hurt you, most likely.”
“I won’t hit a girl. Unless we’re sparring or she’s going to kill me with a butcher knife.”
“Or it’s me and it’s a fair fight,” Claire says, with a smile.
Giving her a look, Damien states, “It’s nowhere near a fair fight with you.”
“True.”
“So, now that we realize the kiss mattered to me and not you, we need to find out what happened.”
“No.” Claire shakes her head.
“No, what?”
“It meant something to me. I didn’t think it mattered to you. I talked myself out of…you,” Claire murmurs at the end.
Damien tilts his head. “What do you mean?”
“I…I mean, we could never be together. So, I was just saving myself from being hurt.”
There is silence as Damien stares at her. “You really think I’m a jerk, huh?”
“No. It’s just…we can’t be together.”
“Okay,” Damien laughs. “I’m not asking you to marry me, but we can be attracted to each other and even interested in each other. No one has a say in that but you and me.”
“Really?”
He gets up and sits on the bed next to her. “Yeah, Claire. This only involves us, no one else.”
“Okay,” Claire exhales.
“Now,” Damien says, looking into her eyes. “What happened?”
“Are you sure you want to hear this?”
“Probably not, but we need to figure out what happened.” Damien pats her knee.
“Okay, well…I kissed you. Alex saw and went outside. Blah, blah, blah. We conversed and he said stay or come with him. So, I left.” Damien rolls his eyes, and Claire sighs. “Anyway, back at the hotel we kissed each other outside for a while and then went inside. He made a big deal about me staying with you because you kissed me.”
“And you just left because of that? What did you think I was going to do?”
“Nothing, I only…didn’t want to get hurt.”
“Okay. Just go on,” Damien whispers.
“We packed up my stuff and went up to his room. Um—he asked if I wanted to unpack my stuff. I said no, I just wanted to get changed. I grabbed clothes, went and did that. I came out and said I was tired. He said let’s go to bed and then he kissed me.
“I immediately shut down my energy because he pushed his into me. He told me to not shut him out and just go with it. So, I did. I put down my shield and well, we started to…merge ourselves, I guess. It was exhilarating. I felt him everywhere and then he collapsed.
“My head was so foggy and unclear. I freaked out, but you ended up being at the door. It was just…when you were by Alex, I could still feel his energy in me. Like when he was pushing it inside of me, what that felt like—I still felt it. It was so overwhelming. Then it…shot out of me…through my shifting, I couldn’t stop.”
Nodding, Damien says, “Yeah. I told the doctors you shifted into eight different things in under a minute. I’m surprised you weren’t hurt. I was so scared for you.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, I…was so freaked out. I wouldn’t even let them look at Alex until they were set with you.”
“That’s awful!”
He gives her a look. “Claire, if it ever comes down to you or Alex, the choice will always be you.”
“Still,” Claire murmurs. “I’d be more worried about Alex.”
“If it was me or some chick interested in me, who would you pick?”
“Good point. Anyway,” she says, shaking her head. “That’s all I remember.”
Damien huffs. “We don’t know what happened. Alex was completely drained of energy and you…well…”
“What?” Claire snaps in fear.
“You had…extra…energy in you. I mean…you did all that shifting and still had energy to spare. It was weird.”
“Well, I’ve always been a freak shifter, so does that really surprise you?”
Sighing, Damien says, “You’re not a freak.”
“Then what am I?”
“Well…I’ve been doing some research,” Damien states. He pulls out a tablet.
“An iPad?”
He holds it up. “Our version. We’ve had them for 500 years, a lot longer than Apple.”
“That’s probably true,” Claire agrees.
“Anyway,” Damien whispers. “I…hold on a second.” He looks up at the ceiling. “Please, turn off the microphones in here.”
A voice says, “Yes, sir.”
Claire’s eyes get huge. “The room is bugged?”
“For your well-being. Okay, now that we can’t be heard. I was looking into something and I don’t want you to freak out.”
“Why?” Claire responds hesitantly.
Taking in a deep breath, Damien says, “I want to try something.”
“What?”
“Give me your hand,” Damien instructs, sticking out his. A little scared, Claire takes it. “Now, I want you to try and pull my energy from me.”
“What do you mean?”
“Can you feel my energy?”
She shakes her head. “No.”
“Okay, what about now?”
A sudden warmth goes through her. “Yeah, I can feel it.”
“Alright, good, now, try and pull it inside of you.”
“Huh?”
“What you felt with Alex, feel that again.”
“Alright,” Claire whispers. She closes her eyes and starts to feel him. It slowly starts to spread across her nerves.
“I was right.” Damien pulls his hand away. “Holy cow.” He shakes it. “I’m right.”
“Right about what?” Claire asks, startled.
“You’re a succubus.”
Confused, Claire retorts, “What? What’s a succubus?”
“In our mythology—” Damien presses something on the tablet screen. “—there are stories of succubi.”
“Again, what’s a succubus?”
“It’s a shifter that absorbs other people’s energy.” Damien hands the tablet to her.
She looks down at the writing. “So, what—like an energy vampire?”
“Well, sort of,” Damien replies. “You absorb our energy through intimately merging energies. That’s what happened with Alex. I think you pulled out all his energy.”
“This can’t get any worse.” Claire whines in emotional exhaustion.
“It’s not as bad as you think.”
Claire stares down at the screen. She thinks for a minute. “There’s a show about a succubus. I thought that was a human thing.”
“They’re similar but our lore is a little different. It’s been a thousand years since one even existed. So, it’s like a legend. There isn’t any real documentation about it.”
“How did you find this all out? I mean, it’s only been a few hours. You work fast.”
Damien bites his lip. “Well…it’s actually been three days.”
“What?”
“Yeah. You’ve been out cold for three days. We’ve been monitoring you closely, though.”
Claire really looks at Damien. “You’re wearing the same clothes from the club.”
&nb
sp; “Well, no. They’ve been laundered, but I’ve only showered once, really fast. I haven’t left your side,” Damien sighs. “I’ve been researching this entire time and not sleeping much.”
“You’ve been sitting with me while I was out?” Claire gasps.
He nods. “Yeah. I couldn’t have you wake up in here by yourself.”
“That’s the kindest thing anyone has ever done,” Claire whispers.
“Hey, I’m a nice guy, even if you think otherwise.”
“I don’t think you’re a bad guy,” she groans.
Damien puts his hands out. “You think I’d kiss you just to get a kiss? You know, because I could never be interested in you.”
“Are you interested?”
He smiles. “I think you’re incredibly beautiful. You’re a lot of fun. You can kick my ass. You send the best texts. You’re strong and confident. Yeah. You have a lot to offer a guy.”
“That’s not what I asked,” Claire laughs.
“Well,” Damien whispers, leaning in near her. “I don’t plan on leaving your side until we figure this out, so…” He bends over and gently places his lips on hers.
Claire sucks in a breath and pushes him away. “No.”
“What? Why not?” Damien says in shock.
“No.” Claire cries. “You can’t touch me.”
“Claire, nothing is going to happen.” Damien brings his hand up to touch her.
She scrambles back on the bed. “No! You can’t touch me. I almost killed Alex.”
“You’re not going to hurt me. I can touch you.”
“No, you can’t.” Claire snaps. “Don’t touch me.”
“Claire,” Damien sighs.
“I mean it. Don’t touch me.”
He hangs his head. “Alright. I won’t. You’re not going to hurt me. I’ve touched you already.”
Tears form in Claire’s eyes and one slowly trickles down her cheek. “I could kill you. We can’t be together.”
“Stop it. The doctors will figure out what’s going on.”
“Did you tell them?”
Damien shakes his head, “No, not yet. I wanted to talk to you and test my theory first.”
“If you felt it, how did Alex not notice?”
“If you were pushing your energy into him, he probably concentrated on that more. I could barely tell, but I’m also really trained with my energy, so I feel any little fluctuation.”
