by Callie Rose
“I don’t know if we’re supposed to be up here,” Hannah said, shooting me a guilty glance. “But I figure it’s the best place for privacy.”
I could see her almost bursting with questions, and I loved her for not asking them right away. I pulled the spell primer and a few supplies out of my satchel and she did the same. According to our teacher, not all fallen creatures could do magic. Most demons could, but other creatures like hellhounds, gargoyles, and werewolves couldn’t. Their magic was limited to what they were. They were infused with it, rather than being able to use it for spell casting.
We sat cross-legged on the floor across from one another with the witchy collection of things between us. Candles and feathers and all that jazz.
“Did the instructor say we’d be using feathers and stuff in the field?” I asked doubtfully.
“No, silly! These are practice. If we can make the feathers float then we can throw the bad guys around. At least I think that’s what she said.”
I shrugged and flipped to the appropriate page.
“All right so… no words or anything?”
“Nope, it’s all visualization. She said we can use words if it helps us visualize, though.”
“Something like ‘feather ascend’?” I glanced at the white bit of fluff like it was a snake coiling to strike.
“Well, sure, but you’re never going to make it happen if you’re tentative. You have to decide it’s a thing that has already happened, then it will.”
I blinked at her. She smiled at me reassuringly, then inhaled deeply and closed her eyes. As soon as she opened them again, the feather in front of her started to float.
“How did you do that?”
She shrugged. “I decided that it had already been done. You try.”
I followed her advice. I closed my eyes, took a breath, and decided that the feather had taken flight. When I opened my eyes, it was still sitting on the floor.
“Okay.” I blew out a frustrated breath. “What did I do wrong?”
“Did you clear your mind?”
I almost laughed. Clear my mind? Was that even possible? I shook my head and tried again.
The feather is flying. The feather is flying. The feather is… Jayce would have made a great winged monster. It’s a shame a hellbeast got him. Then Xero flashed into my head. What would he have been like in the closet? Those dark eyes with all their hidden colors spinning and glowing and—
“Piper!”
My eyes flew open and I slapped a hand over my mouth. The feather was in the air now, spinning crazily as a flame consumed its edges, making the little bits of white blacken and curl. Within seconds, the whole feather was nothing but ash floating dizzily in the air.
“Wow,” she said. “How did you do that?”
I shook my head wordlessly. No fucking clue.
She shot a sideways look at me. “Okay. Clearly you are not in the right mood to be doing this. Backburner that though, that could come in handy. What happened today? You look better than I’ve seen you in weeks, but you’re all…” She waved a hand to encompass my whole body, then let it drop helplessly at her side.
“I found out what kind of demon I am today,” I said as I shoved a hand through my hair. “I’m a succubus.”
Her eyes widened. “Oh. Oh! Oh, wow. That explains the whole thing in Combat this afternoon. I mean, kind of. It was a really weird time to turn that on. Or turn them on.”
“Not really. Apparently, I get all kinds of power from sexual contact. Including healing power.”
“So when you were injured, your powers just kind of took over and you made out with the four closest people?”
“I guess. But I guess I kind of imprinted on them, even before that.”
She cocked her head. “So they’re, what, your goslings?”
“More like my sex slaves.” I gave a dry laugh. “I guess we’re bonded for life or something. Cassandra, the healer in the infirmary, said I could get power from any sexual contact, but that those four are my super-cell batteries.”
“Ooh. That’s kinda cool. And they’re all super hot too.”
“Yeah.” I chewed my lip, thinking about them. They were all insanely gorgeous, in their own ways. “I don’t know, it’s weird. I’m attracted to them all. I’m just not sure.”
“About what?” She frowned slightly. “Honestly, I’m jealous. You’ve got four sexy guys at your beck and call, and you have to have sex with them to survive. Honestly, I’m not seeing the downside here.”
“They are,” I said quietly. “At least I think they are. Don’t get me wrong, my body agrees with you one hundred percent. Of course I want to spend all my time rolling around naked with them.”
“Ohh… all at once? Like a harem? Oh my God, Piper. You could have your own harem!” Her eyes went all hazy and dreamy.
I snapped my fingers. “Earth to Hannah. You’re forgetting something. I may be completely reliant on their sexual energy for my power, but they aren’t reliant on me. I know Jayce is into it, but the rest of them… not so much. And here’s the thing: having sex with Jayce is amazing, but—”
“Hold on, you didn’t tell me that part! Where? When? How was he?”
“Fourth period, in the closet under the stairs, he was fantastic. The point is, even though the sex was great and powered me up like nothing else, I still felt incomplete. Like the other three guys are pieces of me somehow, and if I have one and not the others, I’ll never be fully whole.”
“Oh.” She thought about that for a second, tugging her lip between her teeth. “I see. But you’re a succubus, right? They won’t be able to resist you.”
I shrugged. “Maybe they will. Maybe they won’t. Maybe they won’t, but they’ll want to, and that’s just as bad. Well, kind of. It’s just that they hold this insane amount of power over my life and my well-being, and that is fucking terrifying.”
Hannah smiled at me and patted my hand. “Look at me, Piper. Everything is gonna be okay, I promise. You know what you need?”
“A stiff drink and a time machine.”
She laughed. “Can’t help you with the time machine, but I might be able to help with the drink.”
I pulled a face. “They keep alcohol around here? That seems like a bad idea.”
“It would be, and they don’t. This group of students I’ve been talking to lately is sneaking out tonight to go drinking. It’s kind of prohibited, but Janice says they do it all the time. You want to come?”
My stomach clenched. “Are you talking about teleporting? Because I don’t know if we should be doing that without a guide. We’ll end up embedded in a rock face or something.”
“Not if we can see where we’re teleporting to,” she said slyly. “Look.”
She brought me to the window and pointed toward a valley on the opposite peak. Clusters of golden lights were just starting to come on. “That’s a little human settlement. They’re super remote, but they have a old bar in the village. All we have to do is get close, make sure we all look human, and walk the rest of the way.”
“Won’t they ask where our yaks are or whatever are? I can’t imagine many humans try to hike there.”
She giggled. “Can you imagine? But no, they won’t ask. They never do, apparently. They’ll look at you funny, but as long as you pay and don’t start any trouble, they don’t care.”
“We have no money.”
“Janice does. She’s loaded, and she offered to buy. Come on, you’re all out of excuses now! You have to come.” She batted her eyes at me pleadingly.
“Oh, fine.” I grinned. “It has been forever since I’ve had a good buzz.”
“That’s the spirit! Let’s go get ready.”
I grabbed my stuff and followed her down the staircase, shaking my head. I never would’ve guessed that between the two of us, she would’ve been the bad influence, but I was willing to let her have that honor this time.
Owen was wandering the hallway by our alcove. He smiled shyly when he saw us
and fell into step beside me.
“Hey, Piper. How are you feeling?”
“Much better, thanks.”
“Good. Um…” He blushed and looked down at the floor. “I heard about what happened. About how your powers saved you. And I just wanted to say… if you ever need help healing or anything… well, you can count on me.” His dimples deepened and if he turned any redder, he would have looked like me when I wasn’t shifted.
“Thanks, Owen,” I said with a smile. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
He beamed at me and waved goodbye as Hannah and I turned into the little alcove. My friend hid a smile behind her hand, shaking her head as we stepped inside our room.
I can’t believe how fucking weird my life has become.
Chapter Eleven
The teleportation wasn’t nearly as rough as it’d been the first time, probably because we were just jumping over a chasm instead of flying halfway around the world, but it still sucked. We went in groups of five. Hannah and I went first, along with three girls I didn’t know.
One of the girls was a third-year and had learned how to do the same teleportation trick Dru had done to bring us to Mönkh Saridag. We ended up just outside the town limits on a snowy path and hurried out of the way before the second group could land on top of us.
“So, Piper,” Hannah said breathlessly. “This is Janice, Gilda, and Moira.”
“H-hi,” I clipped out through chattering teeth.
“This way,” Janice said after nodding in greeting. She was a tall girl with a moon-round face and long dark hair that refused to stay inside her hood. She brought us to the pub, a circular building with a pointed roof. It radiated warmth, and I hurried inside. Several tables were occupied by locals. I froze just inside the door, not entirely trusting the situation. They all stopped talking and looked at us as we entered.
“Give it a second,” Janice said quietly. “Don’t stare at them. Follow me.”
She held her head high and strode up to the bar like she owned the place. The chatter started up again almost immediately.
“See?” Hannah whispered to me. “They don’t care. They’re so remote out here, they probably don’t want to make any trouble.”
“That’s it exactly,” Janice said with a little smile. “They know there’s something weird about us, but they don’t make a thing out of it. We’re just one of those little quirks of life.” She winked at me, then turned to the bartender and ordered an entire crap ton of alcohol.
A couple other small groups started to trickle in behind us, and she ushered all of us to a cluster of empty tables on one side of the room. I sat near the outside with Hannah, who seemed to be way more comfortable than I was. It was nice to be out after having been cooped up inside the castle at FU for the past month, but something was missing… or I was missing something.
The door opened once more, and realization hit me like a truck as my whole body seemed to relax.
The guys. That was what I’d been missing.
I couldn’t see them, but their signature scents cut through the crowd like a knife, almost as if it they were seeking me out. Somebody hadn’t come though, and I knew who it was before I even turned my head to look. Kai had apparently passed on the opportunity.
“Oh, hey, Piper! Look who’s here!” Hannah glanced toward the door and waved at them.
“Xero, Jayce, and Kingston,” I said without turning around.
“How did you know?” She looked back at the entrance again, and her face fell. “Oh, what are they doing?”
“Scattering as fast as they can.” I sighed. “Look, Hannah, it’s like I said. They don’t want this.”
“Yeah, well… stay here. Oh, there are the drinks, grab five of them, would you?”
“Okay…?” I did as she asked, then watched as she cornered each of the guys and practically dragged them one at a time to our table.
Jayce sat down beside me and grinned. “Hey, Piper. You made it.”
“Barely.” I made a face. “I hate teleporting.”
“You get used to it,” Xero said as Hannah shoved him into the seat beside Jayce. She hurried off again and returned a moment later with Kingston in tow.
“Look, what was your name, Ana?” he grumbled. “You seem like a sweet girl, but there is no way you are going to convince me to—”
“Sit.”
And shockingly, Kingston sat. He looked for a moment like he was going to crumble into a petulant pout, but he gathered himself together under an umbrella of forced dignity. I slid a drink toward him.
Hannah sat down across from me, glancing around at the gathered men. “Hi! I’m Hannah. I’ve met you, Jayce.” Her gaze shifted to the other two. “And I’ve seen you two in Combat. You must be Xero, and you’re Kingston. Right? Good! Now, Piper told me about your situation. It’s kind of fucked up, which is why you’re all going to sit here and get to know each other and make the best of things.” She folded her hands on the table and nodded decisively.
The guys all looked at me, and I shrugged. “You heard the lady.”
“You take orders from her?” Kingston asked haughtily.
I blinked at him slowly. “She’s my best friend, numbskull. She’s the only person I take orders from.”
Hannah’s eyes twinkled happily. It was ridiculous how easy it was to put that girl in a good mood.
“How about you, Xero?” I asked, turning my attention deliberately away from Kingston. “How did you end up at FU?”
Xero shrugged. “Showed up at the gate and asked if they’d take me. They did. Now I’m here.”
I squinted at him. “Um. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I feel like you’re leaving out a whole lot of shit.”
He almost cracked a smile at that. “You trying to ask how I was turned?”
“That’s one place to start.”
He shrugged. “Friend of mine was driving me somewhere back in ’96… don’t remember the specifics. Went down a dark alley and parked the car. Said he was sorry, then went nuts. Next thing I know, I’m waking up in a red room and all I can hear is screaming.”
“Hold on, you were turned in the nineties?” Hannah narrowed her eyes at him. “You don’t look that old.”
“Feel a lot older,” he said. “Spent a few decades downstairs learning their ways. They think they’ve got all the time in the world down there. I heard rumors about this place around the same time I figured out what Gavriel’s minions wanted me to do—make my way back to earth and spend my existence turning people, recruiting for the underworld.” He shook his head. “Couldn’t do it. No way. But I made them believe I could.”
Kingston’s mouth was twisted in disgust as he watched Xero spill his story. I glared at him. What a dick. Wonder if I could trade that one in for a better model.
“Anyway, they sent me topside to hunt, and I disappeared. Came out here. Bounced off that freakin’ force field around the FU grounds so hard it just about scrambled my brains.”
“And they took you in?” Kingston asked, sounding appalled. “After you’d done time in the underworld?”
Xero blinked at him slowly. “That’s one way to put it.”
“Are they stupid?”
“Knock it off,” I snapped. “If you have to say anything, tell us how you got here, but lay off Xero.”
Xero granted me a very small smile, but turned back to Kingston. “They checked me out. Magic lie detectors and shit. Besides, I have to go through training like everybody else here does. I’ve got to prove myself just like all of you. Relax.”
Kingston opened his mouth to argue, then shut it again and buried his face in his beer. We drank in silence for a few minutes before Jayce rescued us.
“I was walking near the Hollywood studios at sunset,” he said brightly. “I was on my way to an audition when this—this thing popped out from behind one of those huge sound stages. I swear to God, I thought it was an animatronic prop or something; it was the coolest looking dog-monster I’d ever seen. I went up to it to
find its handler and ask if I could play with it.”
Xero blinked at him. “Bruh. Did you… did you try to pet a hellhound?”
“Yep!” Jayce chuckled, seeming genuinely amused. “Stupidest moment of my life. Would probably do it again.”
I laughed. “What? Really?”
“Oh, yeah. You should have seen this thing, Piper! It was like a big black husky with liquid fire dripping from its fangs and a big fluffy tail and smoke just pouring off of it. It looked so soft and cool… I swear to God, I thought it was just movie magic run amok.” He laughed and emptied his beer. Hannah grabbed us another round.
“What about you, Kingston?” she asked when she got back.
He shot her an irritable look. “Oh, you know, I was nobody special,” he said sarcastically. “Not a 90’s reject or an aspiring actor or anything. Just next in line to inherit a Fortune 500 company, that’s all.”
“And you’re clearly not bitter about that,” I observed wryly.
“Wouldn’t you be?” He glared at me, as if I’d been the one to turn him. “I didn’t ask for any of this. I didn’t go down any dark alleys, I didn’t pet any demon dogs, I did everything exactly the way I was supposed to.”
“Welcome to real life, where you can do everything right and still get fucked.” I took a sip of my beer. “So? How’d it happen?”
He narrowed his eyes at me. “I went to a party. Not red Solo cups and beer pong either, a real party.”
“You’re going to have to get a lot more descriptive,” I said. “Where I come from, Solo cups and beer pong are the definition of a real party.”
He raised a brow. “Crystal champagne flutes. Cocaine on fine silver. Networking with billionaires. That kind of party.”
“So let me guess, you did too much blow and woke up as one of the fallen?”
“Of course not. I never touched the stuff,” he said haughtily. “I had a bit of an argument with a friend of my father’s. He wanted my father to take the company public, and was trying to get to him through me. I wouldn’t hear of it. He was drunk and pushy, so I stepped outside for a bit of fresh air.”
