Ginger rubbed her arms.
It helped knowing Luke was sincere in his quest for information. She made a decision to share based on the fact that up until this point she’d made it her life’s work to gather intel, and knew how important it was. She cleared her throat, tossing the apple core into the woods. “I’m three years older than my brother. My entire life I watched him struggle…” She paused, not knowing how to phrase the next part. Her brother had been filled with the same self-loathing she had. It wasn’t an easy confession. Luke waited patiently for her, his face a mask in the shadows as he settled back against the tree. No tension or pressure came from him, so she continued, “Once he reached the age of maturity, which for all sex demons is sixteen, he wanted to leave home immediately. But that’s not our norm. We usually wait, like humans, until we’re eighteen. It gives us ample time to adjust to our…body changes. But he was adamant. He told me he’d found a group he wanted to be a part of, but he wouldn’t tell me anything about them.” She stopped, remembering the heartache she’d felt when she watched him walk out the door. And the horror she’d felt when she found out where he’d gone.
“Same for us,” Luke said, gently easing her out of her painful memories. “Fifteen or sixteen is usually when we make our first full shift. But my brother is proof that if you go through trauma early in life, it can force the issue and make the change come sooner.”
Ginger nodded. Stress did crazy things to humans and supernaturals alike. “Damien left home before I discovered who The Sumerians were. By then it was too late. I’m not sure where he found out about them, and much later he told me that he discovered them on his own—but after all these years, I know better. They found him. That’s how they recruit. They sweep the country for young incubi prime for the plucking, and they found a perfect candidate in my tormented little brother. He’d spent his entire childhood searching for something to believe in because being a sex demon is a tough lot in life. We’re constantly shunned by other supernaturals who don’t understand us. Our powers of persuasion—” she looked anywhere but at the shifter across from her “—are unrivaled. As you saw, even Sofia, who is a master spellcrafter, needed help from us. Other supernaturals don’t…enjoy us. It’s hard to find meaningful bonds outside the sex demon community.”
Luke leaned forward. “Did you grow up around other sex demons? Are there really private communities?”
Ginger picked at imaginary lint on her jeans. This was the hardest part. Luke’s comments and questions had been respectful, and she knew he was just curious, but she hadn’t told anyone this story before. Not even Sofia. “There are. They’re scattered around the world. We grew up in Pennsylvania, in a very nice place. If you grow up in a good community as a young succubus or incubus, you have a better chance to live a normal, healthy life. But the community wasn’t the problem for Damien.”
Luke watched her like a hawk. Or maybe like a wolf scenting weakness. When she didn’t continue, very gently he prodded, “Then why wasn’t he happy? Why did he leave home at sixteen?”
“It was because of our father.”
The heartrending story that tumbled out of Ginger’s mouth was almost too much. There had been no sexual abuse, which had been the only blessed relief. Once she was done telling him about her childhood, he rested his back against the tree. It had taken him a few moments to digest. Finally he responded, “So you’re telling me your father was an incubus who was militant against his own kind? But you lived and interacted with sex demons on a daily basis?”
“Yes,” she said, nodding. “I guess militant is an apt description.” Ginger sat away from him, guarded, her body tense and rigid like she was ready to flee. She hadn’t made eye contact with him since she’d started her story. He knew this had taken all she had to confide in him. “He had a strong dislike for his kind that he never bothered to conceal. And when he could, he would act against them.”
Luke tried not to be too incredulous when he asked, “Then why in the hell would you live in a sex demon community?”
“Because he loved our mother, and that’s what she wanted. That really was his only saving grace. They were deeply in love and had a very strong bond.” She shook her head. “He should never have had children, but she wanted them. We lived close to her family, and they were very loving to us. You have to understand, my father never physically abused us. He was just full of anger at his lot in life. He blamed everyone around him, except my mother.”
Luke crossed his arms and struggled to keep his voice nice and steady. “So your brother grew up shunned by other supernaturals and hated by his father. What about you? You’ve said very little about the effect your father had on you.”
Ginger gave him a small, wary smile. One he could tell was forced. “Oh, I had my mother and her family. I was fine. My father didn’t target me the way he did my brother. Ultimately, he was terrified that Damien would become a true incubus, like him. So he kept at him, begging Damien to promise to suppress who he was. But no one can do such a thing without vast repercussions. Our instinct is too strong. We are all born the way we are. To deny that…” she trailed off, staring at the sky.
Luke didn’t want to push the conversation, but he felt like he was finally getting somewhere. He made sure his voice was a monotone, and none of the anger he felt about her upbringing boiled out. “Of course we’re born the way we are. If I tried to deny my instincts, I wouldn’t be able to survive. It would drive me mad—literally. My wolf is an integral part of me. No wonder Damien searched for a way out at such a young age. It’s also not surprising that you went after him once you found out where he’d gone.”
Her head bobbed down in a slow nod, her eyes still not meeting his. “Our father was killed when Damien was fourteen. It was staged as an accident, but no one believed it. As you know, killing a supernatural of any kind is no small task. Once I infiltrated The Sumerians, I deduced it could’ve easily been them—and if it wasn’t, well, my father had finally come up against the wrong demon spouting his hatred. In the end, no one was surprised. Except my mother. Her sadness was profound.” Luke kept his mouth shut. What kind of mother would let that happen to the children she loved? Ginger continued, “In those precious two years after my father’s death, I tried my best to undo what he had done to Damien. To give my brother a loving role model. But unfortunately, I wasn’t able to get through in time. The damage had been done.” Ginger’s gaze landed somewhere over Luke’s shoulder. He was humbled that she had shared so much with him. This information would be key to figuring out the demon’s motivation. “When Damien left, I was devastated. I felt responsible. I hadn’t done enough. I wasn’t able to convince him it was possible for him…to lead a normal life. I’d failed.”
Luke sat up, crossing his arms over his knees. “While you were trying to help your brother, what about your mother? Did she try to help Damien?” Luke made sure he didn’t sound accusatory. He couldn’t imagine a life without his mother’s support. That woman was incredible. Even after all she’d been through with his father, she’d been a rock for him and Diesel after their father had been killed.
“My mother had always been…meek. When my father died, something inside of her broke and she never recovered. I know she loved us both, but she stayed in the background, unable to cope with her loss. She held on for many years—more than I’d thought possible—but finally gave up. She succumbed to a broken heart about ten years ago. Dying that way is not uncommon for coupled sex demons. When we mate, we form strong, nurturing bonds with our partners.” She glanced away, and rubbed the back of her neck, finally directing her gaze back toward Luke. “At least, that’s what I’m told.”
Luke cleared his throat into his fist, caught up by the emotion in Ginger’s words. “Maybe your mother finally realized what she’d really let slip though her fingers for all those years? Maybe she succumbed, not because of the loss of your father, but because she couldn’t help her children?”
“It’s a…possibility.” Her voice wa
s skeptical. “Though my mother was profoundly apologetic in the end. I kept in contact with her over the years, and she told me numerous times how sorry she was and that she loved me. She always had faith I would bring Damien back someday. And now I finally have the chance. This is the sole reason why we’re here right now.” She glanced around the forest. “I finally have the chance to tell my brother that there are ways he can live his life and find fulfillment.”
Luke nodded. “I understand your need to do that, and I’d do the same for Diesel in a heartbeat. But from what you just told me, this is not on you.” Luke had uttered the words in the softest voice he could manage. “You can’t take responsibility for your father’s sins. This was something a girl of seventeen or eighteen should never have had to deal with. You didn’t harm your brother. Your actions are not responsible for the way he’s chosen to life his life.”
Ginger adamantly shook her head. “I was there for all of it. I saw what was happening and I didn’t stop it. All these years looking back—I could’ve stepped in…I could’ve tried to change something. I vowed to my mother and to myself, after Damien left, that I would help him—or die trying. Now I get my chance. I know it’s the last one I’ll get. I’m going to find him in those caves and let him know I was wrong for not stepping in. I’m going to help my brother now, when I couldn’t do it before.”
Luke kept most of his thoughts to himself. From what Ginger had told him, it would be a miracle if Damien could change. Letting go of the anger he’d held since he was a boy would be damn near impossible, in Luke’s opinion.
Their father had only succeeded in one thing—making a clone of himself.
Instead of stating what he felt was the obvious, he asked, “And what about you?” Luke had no idea up until now that sex demons had such a hard lot in life. His anger and prejudice against them had been ingrained in his mind since he’d been six. He’d never—not once—taken who they were into account, not after the injustice that was done to his father. This conversation had been eye-opening. When Ginger didn’t answer him, he prodded, “Ginger, I don’t believe you came out of that house unscathed. You father’s behavior had to have an impact on you as well.”
She shifted her position on the rock, crossing her legs. “Honestly, it was different for me. As I said, my father didn’t target me. He didn’t like succubae much either, except for my mother, but I wasn’t on his radar.”
“I want to believe you, I really do. But what just happened in there—” Luke directed his thumb at the cabin “—wasn’t normal. Please don’t try to convince me it was. You were in trouble. You haven’t fed in a while, have you?” He leaned forward, hoping she’d finally meet his gaze. “Ginger,” he asked softly, “when was the last time you ate? And I’m not talking about that apple.”
Ginger straightened, bristling at his words, but still refusing to look directly at him. “Don’t pretend you know me after I share a smidgen—an extremely small cross section—of my childhood with you!” She brushed her jeans off before she stood. “You have no idea. And if you must know, I ate before I came to help Sofia. Older sex demons don’t have to feed—we call it feeding, not eating—regularly, so I’m fine. I was just…really tired and stressed. I haven’t been sleeping well since we’ve been on the road. I just needed a break. That’s it.” She got up and moved toward the cabin, and he let her go. He felt like a jerk for pushing her, but Luke knew she was lying again, but he wasn’t going to press the issue.
After hearing her heartbreaking tale, he’d found her even more dynamic. There was a lot to this complicated, intriguing, intelligent woman than ever before. Finding her brother, it seemed, had always been her end game, and she was finally at the apex of making it happen. He respected that. He’d do no less for his own brother if he felt like he had been the one to blame. So Luke kept his mouth shut as he watched her walk into the cabin and made a silent oath right there that he would do everything in his power—to not only help her find her brother—but to convince the demon to believe her.
Why?
Because he liked her. A lot.
And after that dream, he realized he might be willing to do anything to make sure she was happy.
Ginger had halted the conversation with Luke, but she should’ve done it far sooner. She couldn’t believe she shared that much. So foolish! She never poured her life out to anyone, not even Sofia. In fact, she’d never even felt like sharing her past with anyone before this. It was so strange to have shared it with Luke.
She pulled the cabin door open and went in. She confided in Luke a bit about her childhood, but she wasn’t ready to share anything with him about her time with The Sumerians. She’d infiltrated the organization as a pallakis, which was equal to an incubi concubine. Being a pallakis had been a necessary evil, but one Ginger had found tolerable at the time. In order to survive and feed, she used the incubi in the same way they used her. It helped that sex demons viewed sex much differently from any other species. It was like breathing to them, and during her time undercover, Ginger had perfected manufacturing emotion and had fed to gluttony on the men she’d slept with. She’d always had a choice of partners. Being a pallakis wasn’t something that was forced—sex demons never needed to force sex on one another. It had been there for the taking.
The biggest obstacle she faced during her years inside was making sure she stayed out of her brother’s way. But in the end, it had not been possible. When Damien had finally spotted her, and understood what she’d done, he rang the alarms. All the time she’d spent plotting to find them a new life had gone up in smoke.
“Hey,” Luke said from the doorway. She managed not to jump this time, which was a small feat. “I’m sorry. I have to stop doing that to you. I never mean to sneak up on you. I always think you hear me approaching, so it surprises me when you’re taken off guard.”
Ginger placed an open palm over her heart. “No, it’s fine. Really. I was just lost in thought, as usual, and didn’t hear you approach.”
Luke chuckled, entering the small room, resting his big frame against the wall. He took up the entire space. Ginger had to admit, once again, that having him there made her feel safe. “The element of surprise doesn’t happen very much to us,” he said. “Our animal instinct doesn’t let us relax like that. If I hear a noise or scent something, I respond automatically, like a dog with its ears perked up.”
“Must be hard to live like that.”
“It’s not too bad. I’m used to it.” He smiled. “I came in here to apologize. I’m sorry if it felt like I was prying in your business back there. But, for whatever it’s worth, I’m very glad you shared it with me. And when I mentioned food—feeding—it’s just because I’m concerned about you. We have a long hike tomorrow, and I want to make sure you’ve got enough stamina.” Luke inclined his head. “I know it’s important to you to reach your brother.” She watched him fidget with his hands. “And seeing you out cold like that was unsettling. I just want to make sure you’re okay.”
“I appreciate that. I do,” Ginger answered. “But there’s no need to worry about me. I’m fine. I think it’s time we switch gears and get ready for tomorrow. The maps are in the car, and so is the light. Let me go grab them, and maybe we can analyze the cave system a little more and search for possible places he might go.” She headed toward the door, but before she went through, Luke stopped her with a question.
“Why do you think your brother chose to come to this area? He could’ve run in any direction. Why do you think he came here?”
She met his gaze for the first time in a while. “Truthfully? I think he’s come here to die.”
Luke couldn’t hide his astonishment at her frank admission. “You can’t be serious! He was an upper-level Sumerian in charge of operations or some such thing—at least that’s what Diesel told me on the phone last week. Why would he want to die? He’s primed to take over Mason’s job—to revive the group and gather up his followers.”
Ginger shrugged. “My brother’s
been carrying guilt and anger about who he is for a long time—” she quickly bit her tongue before she added like me “—and for the first time, he’s out from under The Sumerians’ thumb—an organization he probably regretted joining the moment after he walked through their doors. The mask he’s worn for all those years is gone, and now he has to look at himself. I’m guessing he doesn’t like what he sees.”
Luke’s face remained impassive in light of her confession. “Okay. That’s not what I expected you to say, but it gives me additional perspective on him. So we have to assume, if that’s the case, he’s going to flee from us, not try to fight.”
“Oh, he’ll fight. Especially if what we want goes against what he wants. But my plan is to talk some sense into him before that happens.”
Luke scratched his head, one dimple showing as his mouth quirked up. It made her sweat being this close to him. She shivered, remembering their brief embrace. “I hear what you’re saying, but why wouldn’t he just jump off the nearest cliff instead? Not to be crass, but why take us on a wild goose chase, just to end his life in the caves?”
“Because—” Ginger had to be careful, because Luke already knew more than anyone else about her “—he’s too scared to make the decision for himself. This is the easy way.”
“How do you mean? Why is hiding easy?”
She shifted uncomfortably and edged a little farther out the door. “Sex demons can…starve themselves to death. If he goes down there and waits for his energy to deplete, he will pass away peacefully.” Like their mother. She bit her tongue and turned, heading out. “I’ll be right back with the maps,” she called hastily over her shoulder, “and we can figure out the best plan.” She stopped and turned, thinking of one more thing. Luke had positioned himself in the doorway. “Once we start on the trail, you can pick up his scent, right?”
Sin City Collectors Boxed Set: Aces Wild, Ante Up, All in Page 26
