Counterpart (Succubi & Incubi Assn.) (23 page)

“Yes, well, sometimes families don't work out the way you want them
too,”
Rosa
said. I could sense
a double meaning within her words and I couldn’t help but agree.

“Is that why we all come from neglected families? I get that it’s to
keep the secret, but—”

“Not all succubi and incubi come from neglected families, but the
ones that stay alive the longest are from there. Plus, demons attach themselves
to loner-type people.”

“Thanks for that,” I muttered. I wasn’t a loner-type person, was I?
I probably was. My only friends consisted of a succubus, an incubus, and about
a handful of humans, who knew nothing about me—they probably wouldn't be my
friends if they ever found that.

God, I am a loner.

“What does this have to do with me anyway?” I asked. “And no
offense, but you totally haven't answered the first question I asked when I
came here.”

“Simple question, simple answer.” She pointed a single finger at me
and said, “That’s
Bethany
.”

My body stiffened and I leaned in, hoping what I heard was wrong.
“What?”

“You have
Bethany
's
demon inside you, I find it very extraordinary,” she said.

I couldn't resist what I did next. I laughed. “Oh, that's hilarious.
You really got me there.”

“I'm not joking, Maya.” I was really hoping that the stillness of
her face would break into a grin, and she would scream 'APRIL FOOLS'. But it
wasn't April, and her face didn't change.

Reality struck me so hard. “Oh my God.”

Either
Rosa
didn't
notice my shocked state or she was just ignoring it, but she continued, “
Bethany
hasn't been noticed since she
died. I thought she was permanently gone but seeing you, right here, it's
definitely
Bethany
.”

I have a 200 year old demon inside me? Why did that seem so
disgusting? And all I could picture was some wrinkled corpse sitting inside my
stomach. I almost wanted to puke.

“Are you alright?”
Rosa
asked. “You’re going a bit pale.”

I pushed the image away, and waved her off. I knew full well that I
wasn’t alright. “I'll be fine.” Should I even consider myself special for this?
I was finding it hard to even process.

And why wasn’t she answering my question about Tori? “What does that
have to do with Tori?” I asked, wanting to turn this conversation around.

“Ah.” She uncrossed her legs and leaned forward. “This is where it
gets interesting. We think Tori was sent by Cassandra. It would explain how she
is capable of doing things a succubus can only do when they reach a certain
level, and managed to stay away from your senses.”

Why is this starting to feel like a video game right now? “A certain
level? Like what? Level 1… 8?”

“It's not based on numbers, Maya. The older you get, the more you're
capable of doing.” I could feel her need to roll her eyes at me. “You're still
in the beginner’s stage, but I'm starting to think that will change soon.
Bethany
's demon holds a lot of power and
sooner or later you'll channel the powers she had. This is why I think
Cassandra is coming after you.”

“Oh, perfect. I find out I have a 200 year old demon inside me and
now I have one coming after me. That’s just great.” Every word I was saying was
full of sarcasm, and when it finally hit me, I was in a completely opposite
mood. “I didn’t ask for this.”

“I understand.”
Rosa
nodded. “But
Bethany
chose you,
and that means she trusts you. You just need to trust her.”

At this moment, that seemed like a difficult scenario. I was still
trying to get over that she was even inside me. “Can't you just get Cassandra,
and like... you know, do whatever you do?”

Kill her!

“If only it was that easy. We don't know where Cassandra is, which
is why we need Tori.”

As slow as my mind was before, I could already see where this was
going, and I hated that. “You want me to help out.”

“You're a quick learner, Maya.”

What a compliment. Too bad I was going to have to deny. “I can't
help. If I get involved, Tristan will start getting suspicious.” He probably
wouldn’t, considering he isn’t talking to me and I’m not talking to him. It was
a bit late to bring up the sex thing between Tristan and Tori. Not only did I
know if it was even true or not, but how was I supposed to tell my boss that I
was concerned without coming off as something I was trying to deny.

“You need not worry about him. He will know when you're around
anyway, if he starts understanding the soul connection of you two—”

“What soul connection?”

Rosa
tilted her head to the side, watching
me with curious eyes. Did she expect me to know what she was talking about? “Yours
and Tristan's. He has Conrad's soul...”

Just when I thought my mind was catching up, it does this. “Are you
telling me that Tristan's immune?”

The way I was still managing to even speak a full sentence was
astounding. How the hell did I miss that? I thought I’d be freaking out but
something inside me felt... happy about this information.

“He is as immune as you are a succubus. I thought you would have
caught on when I told you that your demon was
Bethany
.” I bet she regretted saying I was a quick learner.

Still, Tristan was immune. He was immune to me. “Is he immune to
other succubi?”

She nodded her head once, not willing to give me a verbal reply.

“I can't kill him.” My voice was a lone whisper and it was only
meant for me to hear. The sound of a steady thump against my chest accelerated
and a light feeling fluttered within me. I can't kill him. I can't hurt him. It
was like a weight was finally lifting, only for it to be slammed against me
again. Why did I not get told about this before? This would have been great to
hear a week ago. Or maybe like a couple of years ago when he wasn’t in the arms
of some fake blonde who just keeps ruining my life.

It was already too late. He was gone.

Yet, I couldn't stop myself from caring. “Is he still human?”

“Yes, the only difference with him is that your demon is protecting
his soul from being sucked out.” At least that answers the sex question. Even if
they did have sex, he would still be fine. “It was what
Bethany
wanted, but there are the other
things that she did not think about.”

“What other things?” I asked.

“He's not immune to our powers. It's just through sex. We can still
compel him to do things. I actually think Tori may be persuading him to do some
things, not sure why.”

Tori had to have compelled Tristan to do all the things he did. It
was the only logical explanation that I could think of. It was understandable
too. She would persuade him to have sex with her, he would friend-ship break up
with me, and then we’d stop talking.

It was like the perfect plan.

What a bitch.

Running my hands down my face, I knew I had to do something. I
couldn't bear to sit here while some master plan was being unraveled with
Tristan in the middle of it. Sighing and ignoring the frustration, I finally
made up my mind and said, “So, how can I help?”

“We wait until they return from
Hawaii
?” I asked.

After speaking with Rosa for a few more minutes as she briefed me on
what the plan was—it really wasn’t my ideal plan—Ethan brought me back. Before
I could leave however,
Rosa
decided to ruin my night just a bit more.

“Ethan will be working alongside you.”

I groaned inwardly, not even hiding the fact that I hated the idea.
“But he doesn't talk.”

Yeah, I was stuck with the non-talking incubus. Not only that, but
Rosa
went on to say,
“No killing her,
Maya. We want her for questioning.”

She was asking for a lot.

“We don't have a specific location on her, so yes waiting for them
to return will have to do. She knows something’s up but she’s not fully sure.
Unless it takes too long, we'll just have to try our chances. Everything will
be fine until then,” Ethan assured. I wanted to believe him too. I wanted to believe
that everything was going to be fine, but I was finding that very hard.

I walked around the side of my bed, picking up the photo that had
dropped to the ground before Mr. Intruder arrived, and I pinned it back in its
right place on my wall. Guilt and exhaustion filled me, and I couldn't find
myself to keep my eyes open for much longer. So much had happened tonight, yet
it felt like I hadn't even been gone for long.

“What's with all the talking?” A sleepy Melinda walked into the
room, rubbing both her eyes. “Shit, Maya. It's fucking one in the morning, just
go to sleep, you vampire wanna—” her voice faded off when her hands moved down
and she spotted Ethan.

“Maya,” she said cautiously, turning to face me, “why is he in your
room?”

You couldn’t really explain the face Melinda had at the moment. It
was a cross between surprise, worry and suspicion. Guess I better just get it
out there before she thinks the worst—like Ethan and I were doing
things
.

“Tori's a succubus.” I shrugged, only because it was all I could
really do. If it were my choice, I’d be searching for her right now, but no we
had to follow
Rosa
’s plan
because she knows best. Apparently.

In less than three seconds, Melinda went from tired to completely
awake. And before she even spoke, I knew I wanted sleepy Melinda back.

“Are you kidding me?” she exclaimed. It was luckily not directed
towards me. Instead her wide-eyed gaze was pointed towards Ethan. “That blonde
bimbo is a succubus? How is that even possible? We couldn't sense her.”

And just as if he was summoned, Daniel walked in.

“Shit you girls know how to make some noise.” He obviously just woke
up from Melinda’s raised voice, and he looked as half asleep as she did. Then
he spotted Ethan standing next to me and he was as awake as she was. “Oh, so
you let
him
in your room?”

“Not right now, Daniel,” I sighed, pressing the tips of my fingers
to my forehead, already feeling a headache come through.

“Hello, can someone please explain to me why there's a blonde bimbo
as a succubus?” Melinda exclaimed, rubbing at her arms like there was an
infection inside them. She mumbled, “I don't want to be a succubus anymore if
it means I'm associated with her.”

“I still don't know why there's an incubus in your room, Maya,”
Daniel stated, ignoring the state Melinda was getting herself into.

“You know, rubbing your arm isn't going to get rid of a demon,”
Ethan pointed out, watching Melinda begin to rub her skin raw.

It was honestly like watching three different things at once. Daniel
was going on about how Ethan is in my room. Melinda was trying to remove
herself from the demon world. Ethan was stating how what Melinda was doing was
going to irritate her demon if she continued.

Me? I was honestly over it.

“You guys stop,” I said quietly, holding my hand out in a lazy
attempt. I admit, I didn’t put much effort into it but I honestly thought they
would hear me.

“I want out of this deal. I want out. This whole thing is just
done,” Melinda said.

“You're just going to end up with a raw arm,” Ethan replied.

“I don't understand how there's an incubus in your room, yet you
won't even let me sleep innocently in your bed.” Of course that came from
Daniel. I don’t think he knew the difference between mature and immature right
now.

“Can you guys shut up?” I spoke louder this time, almost reaching
the thin line between sane and insane. It got their attention though and I
calmed. “Can we all talk about this tomorrow? I'm tired and I need to think
about how I'm going to get Tori without Tristan getting suspicious or finding
out—whenever they come back, that is.”

“Oh!” Melinda had stopped rubbing her arms and now she looked like
the Melinda that had news. “He might be coming back tomorrow.”

How did she know this? “Why?”

Her eyes glassed over and her fingers started counting. “Well, Ben
told Kelly, who told Noah—”

“Can you just skip to the point?” I've been through this name
dropping once before. I think I understood how many people Melinda knew.

Her hand dropped to her side and she rolled her eyes. “Fine, he
should be coming back. Geoff West's funeral is in two days.”

Geoff's funeral. Shit, I forgot about him. Of course he was having a
funeral, and of course Tristan would go. We all knew him—well, he didn't know
me but he was there to help Tristan out, so it was like I knew him. Melinda knew
him though—like physically met and greeted him—not sure how, but if she had the
same encounter as me, then I didn’t want to know. “Are you going?”