“Sorry,” Van said. “I’d shake your hand but I obviously need a shower.”
“Oh, you’re fine,” I said, offering my hand instead.
He grinned at Alister and shook it with a strong grip. His fingernails were awfully dirty, but I really didn’t care. “I’m the gardener here,” he said. “And—groundskeeper, boat operator, lobsterman, you name it.”
“Wow, you even catch lobster?”
“Sometimes. If you want one for dinner some night soon, put your order in now.”
“Yeah! Wait—I mean—do you have to boil them alive or something?” I’d never actually had a whole lobster.
Van laughed. “I’ll ask Dante about that.”
“Is he the chef?”
“That’s right.”
“Oh, I’m looking forward to meeting him, then. Food is my thing.”
Van and Alister exchanged a look and Alister smirked faintly. “You will certainly meet him soon.”
“I’ll see more of you when I’m washed up,” Van said.
“Great!” I said, waving my fingers at him in a weird good-bye. I swear I didn’t mean to do that. My hand felt possessed once he let go of it.
“One of those soft-hearted carnivores, are you?” Alister said.
“Well, I’m definitely not a vegetarian, but…” I shrugged, realizing it was somewhat hypocritical to care about boiling a lobster but still eat bacon.
Alister stopped and looked me over, just a quick dip of his eyes like he was appraising me, but it put me on instant defensive. I bristled. I came here to get away guys judging me because of stupid stuff like whether I ate lobster or what music I liked or how I did my hair.
“So where is my room?” I asked.
Alister’s expression had changed but it was still intense. I couldn’t quite read him. “You don’t want me to finish the house tour?”
“I’d rather just settle into my room first, if you don’t mind. It’s been a long day.”
He shrugged. “All right, then.” He showed me up the staircase, where a balcony wrapped around the top of the stairs. The landing was large and elegant, with fresh flowers in tall vases and the wood floors cut in patterns with diamonds of darker wood set into polished golden planks. A number of doors must lead to guest rooms. Alister opened one to—
Another set of stairs.
“Since you are only guest,” he said, “I want you to have the tower suite. It was originally for Mr. McAllister’s beloved wife.”
“Did she die?”
He paused, his features distant and regal. I was struck again by his good looks, very different from Van’s. He fit the house, I thought. High brow, strong but refined nose, a very slight curl to his hair like a Byronic hero, a sensual mouth, and obscenely good posture. “We all do, eventually…”
“I mean…” I whispered, “It’s not the haunted room, is it? Don’t make me form my own conclusions, I’m serious.”
“Are you that afraid of spirits?” he asked.
“Oh my god. It’s haunted.”
“Not exactly… You might say this whole island has a certain connection to another world and sometimes you see odd things. I think of them as…creatures.”
“Creatures?” This was going beyond a ghost story.
I heard a door slam shut down the hall and I actually shrieked. Alister put a hand on me, but I was deeply embarrassed. It was probably just the wind.
“What are you telling our guest?” a gravelly voice drawled, getting closer, as footsteps came down the hall. “Don’t fill her head with stories.”
“Dante,” Alister said, as the third man walked out, a wrinkled black chef’s shirt and black pants doing little to obscure yet another tall, solid, delicious body. His sleeves were rolled up just enough to expose some spiraling patterns of tattoos. Oh, crap, I had a serious weakness for tattoos but especially ones with kind of abstract, tribal vibe. His red hair fell to his shoulders in some disarray while his feet were bare. This was the kind of man Mom didn’t like me bringing home. It was like all of them catered to different parts of my taste. I don’t believe this…
“So this is…um…are all the staff like you guys?” I asked.
“Like what?” Dante asked.
“Like…”
“You can say it.”
“Haw… hawt?” Yeah, I’m pretty sure I might have actually conveyed that spelling.
Dante walked right up to me, and I stepped back, almost bumping into Alister.
“Yeah,” he said. “We’re all hot.”
Wow. Arrogant.
But…true. His eyes were a pale brown flecked with gold, the most stunning brown eyes I’d ever seen, his mouth full and kissable, and for some reason I was a sucker for the sort of pale eyebrows some redheads had, that seemed to draw even more attention to his eyes.
I’m glad I brought a lot of changes of underwear and I’m still not sure it was enough. I tried to steel myself against this assault to my hormones, and it was not working. Of course, this is the perfect place for a hookup. No messy relationships. Just two weeks of hot guys and then you’re back to reality.
“Hrm,” Alister said. “Either way, this is all there is. We’re the entirety of the staff. For the next two weeks, you’re our guest. Anything you desire on this island…we’ll give it to you.”
Holy smokes.
Chapter Three
Edie
Alister and Dante both accompanied me to the tower room, but they let me go ahead. My mouth dropped open as I climbed the stairs. Every side of the room had a row of tall windows, and from every side I could see the ocean except the one that faced south, which offered evergreen trees rising on soft hills down the length of the island.
The room itself was stunning, decorated in a light color palette with some pops of color. It wasn’t too fussy, with soft stripes on the wallpaper and simple wicker furniture and tufted gray cushions, sort of an upscale beach vibe with a touch of feminine. The ceilings had amazing crown moulding with carved birds holding garlands. The room was not quite square but a little more octagonal. A spiral staircase led up to the widow’s walk and one corner had been square off for a little bathroom with a claw foot tub.
“Wow…this is amazing.” I took out my phone, about to snap a picture, but the battery was dead. “Crap…”
“Batteries don’t last long here,” Alister said.
“What? Why?”
“Something in the air.” He arched a brow. “Dante might not like me telling you stories, but it’s true.”
“No, I don’t,” Dante said, with a serious edge to his tone as he looked at Alister.
“It’s fine, I’ll charge it…” I glanced around for an outlet.
“The lamps are wired for electricity,” Alister said, “but we never installed any outlets during the update.”
“Wha—“ I sputtered something. “And no TV…well, there are outlets downstairs I can use, right? Is there a lounge somewhere?”
“No TV anywhere,” Dante said. “Shall I anticipate some other questions for you? No internet, no cell phone, the only telephone is in Alister’s office. Electricity in general is spotty. Sometimes it goes out…then it comes back. It doesn’t like us very much.”
“You came to Marchcliff Manor to escape the modern world, didn’t you?” Alister asked.
“Yeah, but—I thought there would be a outlet so at least I could read ebooks and play some game apps before bed. This room is beautiful, but is there a different one I can have? With electricity?”
“I told you,” Dante said. “Why am I not surprised? Another girl who hates this place.”
“I didn’t say I hated it.”
“Let me fix the emphasis for you. ‘I didn’t say I hated it.’” He mimicked my voice but maybe me sound like a total airhead.
“You’re the ones who don’t have any guests booked. You can’t seriously expect anyone to stay here in the twenty-first century without wi-fi or even a landline or even electricity. What is this, Victorian bootcamp
?”
“What does our fine establishment have to do with bootcamp?” Dante asked. “Girls these days are ridiculous. You can’t even spend two weeks in a mansion with books and music and fine dining and gardens and beaches, because you are so eager to get back to Google or whatever?” He scoffed. “Hopeless, Alister. Completely fucking hopeless. I’m going to start on dinner.”
“Don’t mind him,” Alister said.
“It’s okay…” I said automatically, but then I thought, Fuck that. I’m leaving in two weeks anyway, and they’ll never see me again. “Well, actually, you know what? It’s not okay. I didn’t come here to escape the internet. The internet is great. It’s all the judgmental assholes on the internet that are the problem. So if you really want to give me everything I desire, you can start with not calling me ‘ridiculous’ or a hypocrite.”
“No one has called you a hypocrite.”
“You called me a soft-hearted carnivore and that’s—that’s similar. Your tone did have a faint scoff.”
He bowed. “You’re right. Our manners have been spotty at best. It won’t happen again. If you prefer to be alone right now, please feel free to explore the house and grounds on your own, just don’t open any shut doors—those are our bedrooms and you might encounter Van naked.” His smile was vaguely wicked. “Don’t take that as a dare.”
Oh, man.
“I know that this place really is..dated, by current standards of entertainment,” he said. “But this island has a charm of its own. If you give it a chance, Edie…” His eyes wandered to the view. “It’s not just the things on the brochure, the dinners and the blueberry picking and the views. If you open yourself to the energy of this island, I promise your mind will be thoroughly captivated.”
Alister had such an intimate way of speaking for a vacation house manager to a summer guest. I probably should be weirded out, but some part of me wanted to believe that it was true, and there really was a magic to this place that could sweep me up and change me forever.
“Here’s a dare I’ll take,” I said. “You’re right. I can live without technology for two weeks. I came here to escape all the crazy fakeness of the real world. I’m going to savor every moment I’m here.”
Alister’s eyes now turned to mine and it almost took my breath away. I don’t know if I would ever get used to looking at him, or having him look at me. His blue eyes were so cool and stunning. I could have imagined myself in a Jane Austen novel. I just knew he was a good dancer without even asking. Privately, I dared myself, Before you leave, you’d better pick one of these guys and hook up.
Pick one?
That might be the hardest part.
Chapter Four
Alister
Dante hustled down the stairs ahead of me. I could feel his simmering annoyance, familiar as the steaming cook pots he spent so much time tending. As a fire demon, Dante was perhaps the most out of place on this cold island—although it belonged to him even more than the rest of us.
“There’s no point in telling her anything,” he snapped when we were back on the ground floor where Edie couldn’t hear us. “She might be worse than some of the others. I could see her twitching for her phone.”
“The divination spell suggested she was a good bride candidate,” I insisted. “What else do you want me to do? Ask Mrs. Parker to find us someone?”
“The divination spell obviously doesn’t know shit.”
“It can only point the way. I don’t know what else you want me to do.”
“She’s definitely not the one we’re looking for. None of them are. None of them will ever be.”
Dante kept charging ahead to the kitchen, where the old stove awaited his attention. He threw open the door and waved a hand. The logs inside, which had died into cinders, burst into flame. “We could give up,” he continued. “I don’t know how anyone manages this. We were born in the wrong era. No modern woman wants to tie her fates to this island. Look what happened to my mother. Maybe you should find some—what is it, Amish, who don’t use electricity?”
“I don’t think they will be interested in marrying a demon,” I said sarcastically.
“We’re not Biblical demons,” Dante said.
“I’m sure they’ll still see us as such, considering our origins.”
“Whatever.” Dante slammed a pot down. “I’ll make her all this fancy food, dance with her, whatever the fuck, watch her try to get in our pants before she cuts out with relief that she can get back to her normal bullshit life, but I don’t have to like it.”
“All we can do is give this one a chance,” I said. “Some things have changed for the better since former generations. Modern women are more open to the idea of three husbands. And I wouldn’t write Edie off yet.”
I knew I wouldn’t be able to stop thinking about all the things I might do to her and all the pleasures I might bring her with my body and my magic. Her body, tall and strong with generous curves, looked like it was made to handle us, as well as the rigorous life on the island. Perhaps more importantly, her personality had enough spark to stand up even to Dante. I could see that she had a quick and curious mind, eager for stimulation. It was no wonder she wanted constant interaction with the virtual world, but I wanted to think it was only because no one had shown her a better kind of interaction…
We couldn’t search forever.
Still, I was afraid he might be right. I was afraid to get my hopes up anymore. Edie looked like she belonged here, but she was soft, like modern girls always were. I didn’t know if she could pay the price, in sacrifice and blood…
We were simply not meant to be modern creatures; we were born of myth and magic and a more brutal age. I knew the part I needed to play; not just genteel but also casual. From what I could tell, modern women wanted men to play a delicate balancing act between aggressive and protective, feminist and kind. Deep within all of us was a streak of darkness that could never be fully suppressed. We did not come from a kind world.
Dante and Van had entrusted me to scout for our future bride. I was the obvious choice; water demons like myself had patient demeanors, but this would task any water demon or indeed, any man. We had ascended to the position of island keepers five years ago, and I had done everything I could to solicit female candidates from the mainland. But it was hard to get people to visit Marchcliff Manor at all, much less to stay, despite that our forms were supposedly irresistible to human women.
This island had long been precious to our kind. It was one of the rare spaces that existed in both planes, the world of humans and of demons. But such places required guardian demons to protect them by any means necessary, and guardian demons needed a human bride to maintain the connection between both worlds. If a new connection was not formed, the island would slip into the demon world completely. As far as humans knew, it would simply seem to have disappeared into the sea. Through the course of the twentieth century into this one, our kind had lost almost half of these connection points. We were fighting hard to keep them now, and the Demon Symposium thought a bonded trio was a safe bet. Our bonded magic was stronger than a single demon. We had left our world, confident that we would succeed in our quest for a bride.
So far, it was a resounding failure. Either the girls had no interest in our lifestyle, or we hardly knew how to connect with them. Girls these days were so…strange.
Dante had made quick work of chopping a large onion while I brooded over our fate. Van wandered in, rumpling a towel through his hair. “Quiet in here,” he noted. “Where’s our lady?”
Dante threw the thin slices in a pan and walked over to me, slouching against the hot oven. “Hey,” he said. “I don’t blame you, Al. It’s the world we live in.”
“What happened?” Van asked.
“Just the usual,” Dante said. “Another girl who is going to lose her mind without a screen.”
“I’m still going to try,” I said.
“Yes, you’re doing a great job, telling her there are ‘creatures’? Wha
t was that about?”
Van grabbed an errant slice of raw onion and ate it. Typical nature demon, they would eat anything raw. “No one ever said this would be easy,” he said. “She’s the first guest we’ve had this summer. We need to fight for her. Of course we’ll have to go home in shame if we’ve already given up. She would sense our weakness. Just imagine if we actually succeeded. Maybe she’s the one we’ve been waiting for. She seems ripe to be picked.”
“You’ve said that a dozen times already,” Dante said.
“Well, I meant it every time,” Van said. “And I’ll keep meaning it until someone means it back.”
Van was the most optimistic of our trio by a mile.
“It won’t be her,” Dante said. “I’ll bet you that.”
“I’ll take that bet,” Van said. “If I win, I get to have her first, all to myself.”
“If I win, I’ll be the only one to toy with her before she leaves,” Dante countered.
Van narrowed his eyes. “That’s not in the spirit of our bond, is it?”
I shook my head. Neither of them were taking this seriously at all anymore. I suppose ten years of this could do that to a man. “You’re both disgusting. If she won't marry us, no one gets her, how about that?”
“As if you’re not the kinkiest bastard of us all,” Dante said with a grin.
“But one must dance first,” I said. “Like a gentleman.”
The truth was, none of us could have sex with her. We could dally a little, but at the end of the day, we had to erase her memory. Sex would create a bond that was much harder to break.
“I don’t need to make bets with the three of you,” I said. I had no sense of possession when it came to my bond-mates; I wanted them to bring her pleasure. I knew they shared the same feeling, and this was just a bit of fun for them. But for me, it wasn’t a game. “With our previous guests, I’ve tried to play it safe and not reveal the truth unless they chose to stay. This time, I’m going to do things differently. There’s something about this one…”
Tempted by Demons: A Reverse Harem Paranormal (Brides of the Sinistral Realms) Page 3
