Counterpart (Succubi & Incubi Assn.) (29 page)

“Nothing else I'd rather be.” He turned to the side and nodded his
head to the arena. “You going to come in? I'll even buy you a drink.”

I knew Stuart would be working at the bar tonight but I wasn't going
to tell Daniel that, only because he loved to brag that he was legal to buy
alcohol, and older than me by a year. “Sure, I'm going to order the most
expensive drink they have.”

****

Apparently Geoff was an old school kind of guy when it came to his
choices of songs. His wife had brought in a pile of his favorite CD's, and
apparently they were all from the 90s.

“Oh my God, I haven't heard this song in a long time!” Melinda
jumped off her seat.
No Diggity by Backstreet
had just started, and even
I had to get excited over the song.

“Wow,” Ethan said, looking around the crowd. “I remember seeing
these guys in concert.”

Melinda paused from her frantic behavior at trying to finish her
drink so she could go into the crowd that were dancing, and she started to
stare at Ethan like he was hypnotizing her. “We're so perfect for each other.”

Silence is what fell as soon as the words slipped out of Melinda's
mouth, and I knew she didn't mean for them to get out, but they did. Daniel and
I stared wide-eyed at each other for a quick second before staring back at
Melinda. She had quickly picked up what just happened and a red tinge showed on
her cheeks. “Did I just say what I think I just said?” she asked me. I nodded,
fighting myself not to laugh.

“Oh God.” I noticed how she was avoiding Ethan's gaze and I took
this moment to see what he was thinking. The expression he had was hard to
describe. You could tell he was surprised by her sudden outburst, but other
than that, he didn't seem at all phased. I don't know why Melinda was worried.

A laugh from my side caused me to turn and see Daniel holding a fist
over his mouth, his shoulders were lightly shaking and I knew that he was
trying to hold it in.

“Just forget I said anything,” Melinda finally stated after a few
seconds. “Stuart, another.”

Ethan finally turned and his brow was arched in my direction. He
probably never experienced this type of reaction before. Considering he was an
incubus and had way more years on him than us, you'd think he would have.

I shrugged, not really knowing what to say. “She's drunk.”

“Not that drunk,” Daniel muttered, and after all the effort we had
put in, he and I were laughing. It was bound to happen. Melinda had been
fawning over Ethan ever since he showed up.

“Maya.” My body stiffened when the male voice sounded in my ear, and
instantly I thought Tristan was standing right behind me, but when muscled arms
planted themselves on the bar next to me and my eyes connected with brown ones,
I was kind of relieved. It's not that I didn't want to see Tristan right now.
It was just that, if I saw him, I probably wouldn't know what to do but stand there
and look like an idiot.

Noah had his usual smile on and he looked over my shoulder to
Daniel. His eyes then narrowed quickly towards the incubus, but they were
quickly back to normal and he out-stretched his hand. “Hey, I’m Noah.”

“Daniel.” He shook Noah's hand, and I could really feel an awkward
conversation coming along. Plus, it was starting to feel really hot inside the
arena. There were so many bodies here that it was starting to become
over-whelming.

“Hey,” Noah said, after their awkward handshake that I noticed had
him curious about the male next to me. I don't know why he's sizing Daniel up,
seriously. “I actually came here to ask if you've seen Tristan.” Noah moved his
eyes to me.

Now I was the one narrowing my eyes. “No, I figured he would be with
you.”

He shook his head. “Nope, last time I saw him was a couple of hours
ago, and he wasn't very happy. I swear he almost punched me when I asked if he
was coming with you tonight. Figured you'd two would come together. I was
wrong.”

“We're not a couple, Noah,” I said.

“You could've had me fooled,” he retorted. “Anyway, I was just
wondering if you'd seen him. I text him but he hasn't replied. Of all people,
I'd never expected that he would miss Geoff's farewell.”

Pressing my lips together, I started to analyze Noah's expression.
There was a darkness covering his eyes, and I could see the worry over his
friend in the way his brows pushed down. He was right. Tristan should be here,
and I actually felt sad that I hadn't noticed it until now. But I honestly did
think he was with Noah, and avoiding to come anywhere near me.

At least I knew he was still angry. Punching his friend in the face
would be the perfect confirmation for that—even if he didn't. I lifted my
shoulders, feeling helpless. “I don't know where he is, sorry.”

He frowned slightly. “Damn, that thing with Tori must have really
fucked him off.”

“What thing?” I asked.

“He didn't tell you that he snapped her cheating?” he asked me, only
for me to shake my head. He caught her cheating? “Yeah, caught her red handed.
Twice, in one day. Different guys too.”

Why didn't Tristan tell me this? “Wow.”

“Yeah, she's a cow.” Noah shrugged. “Anyway, if you hear from him,
tell him I'm going to kick his ass the next time I see him. I'll see you
later.”

When he walked off, my dumbfound expression was almost hard to get
rid of. So he found out she was cheating? That's why he dumped her. It was safe
to say that I was surprised by the new found knowledge, but it kind of made me
think how much of a hypocrite he was. He was cheating too, with me.

I still couldn't help but feel angry at her though.

Stupid bitch.

My head started to pound softly and the nerves inside ached. I
brought my hand up to try and attempt to get rid of the headache that I really
didn't want. With the music blasting loudly, the murmuring of the crowd and the
non-existence of an air conditioner, I knew I needed to get some air.

“I'll be right back,” I told Daniel, and I grabbed my purse and
walked between the sweaty bodies until I reached the cold haven that was
outside.

Taking in as much cold air as I could through my nose, I walked
towards the car, wanting to just sit in it for a while. I reached into my purse
in search for my keys, only to come out short when I remembered that Daniel had
them.

Great.

Shaking my head at my unplanned situation, I ignored my annoyance
and pulled out my cigarettes, taking one and lighting it. The headache still
managed to stay though, no matter how many times I took a deep breath, and even
though I wasn't inside the arena, I was still feeling the heat surround me. It
actually felt like I had stepped into a more heated area.

No one was outside now, so the streets were silent except for my
heels that clicked along the concrete. Slipping them off, I leaned back against
my car, taking a long drag from my smoke.

I turned my gaze to the stars in the sky, counting the shapes that I
could make out of them. I was pretty sure I managed to draw a rabbit at some
point but that could just be me hoping I did. The sound of footsteps rang through
my ears, and I didn't count one but three sets of them, and they got closer.

Soon enough, I heard a quiet chuckle. “Well, well, well, look who it
is.”

Of all people to send in my direction, it just happened to be Ryan
and two of his jock friends. They all shared the same sardonic smirk on their
lips when they saw me, and my tolerance to even see them hit an all time low.
“Go away, Ryan.”

I heard him suck in a quick breath, but I knew it was all for show. “Harsh,
Maya. You're not even going to ask for your payment?”

My brows furrowed in confusion. I didn't want to ask, but the urge
to do it was over-powering the urge to tell him to fuck off. “What are you
talking about?”

The two guys—who I had no memory of their names—stood tall and
straight behind Ryan, their arms crossed over their chest. I even saw one of
them check me out. Gross.

“Well.” Ryan decided that he was allowed to touch my car and he
leaned his hip against it, too close to me. “Rumor has it that you charge
hourly for your services, and well, I never got the bill.”

The fact that this
rumor
was starting enraged me. “You're
fucking kidding me.” I didn't bother asking how this rumor even started,
considering that Ryan seemed to hear them before everyone else. “Do you like
being an asshole?”

He shrugged. “Only for you, Maya. So, how much?”

My eyes narrowed. “Considering you didn't even last ten minutes, you
can fuck off.” It seemed that his presence made my headache worse, and I just
wanted to rub my temples but that would give him a sign to keep going.

“I don't remember much of that day, but you're right.” Suddenly Ryan
was in front of me and the smell of his breath made me cringe. “I have fifty
minutes left.” His hands found my hips and any attempt for me to step back only
failed when my car wouldn't let me move.

I turned my head and all his friends were doing was standing there,
smirking like idiots. How could I even relate myself to Ryan? He was an idiot.
I swear he didn't even have half the brain cells that an average person had. I
was nothing like him. He was sinister. He obviously did this for a laugh, or it
gave him extreme pleasure to make a girl helpless. Either way, it made me sick.

“Get off, Ryan,” I said lowly, “seriously, remove your hands.” I was
tempted to do some real damage and I wasn't sure what, but my knee was getting
ready to meet his balls. Then there was my headache that was making
concentration almost out of reach.

Ryan's hands tightened on my hips and I felt him pull me closer to
him. “Why should I?”

“I would remove your hands if I was you.” I couldn't contain the
sigh of relief when I heard Ethan's voice. I looked over Ryan's shoulder and
saw him standing a couple of feet away from me, his hard stare on Ryan's back.
“Remove them. Now.”

Ryan's head only turned ninety degrees and he nodded his head to his
friends. They each took the sign and started walking up to Ethan.

Suddenly, I could smell Ethan's scent in the air. The muskiness
mixed with mint entered through my nose. He was staring at the two guys, his
eyes now a cloud of black. “You might want to rethink that.” I'd never seen
someone use compulsion like this. With me, I had to touch them to pull them in,
but with Ethan, he just needed to look at them. The two guys stilled. They
wouldn't remember this part when it came to reminiscing.

Ethan's gaze was back to Ryan. “Remove your hands,” he repeated, “or
else this won't be pretty.”

Ryan finally removed his hands from my hips and he turned to face
Ethan. He didn't realize until then that his friends weren't doing anything but
standing there, their gazes switching between the two males having a staring
battle.

“Leave,” Ethan finally said.

The two males scampered off as soon as the word left Ethan's lips,
and Ryan seemed to have a battle with himself. He watched Ethan momentarily before
looking back at me with a glare. “Whore,” he said, before walking after his
friends.

“Don't.” I held my arm out when Ethan stepped forward to do whatever
he was thinking of doing. “He's really not worth it.”

“Are you alright?” he asked. “It was lucky I could smell your scent
and the fear that was inside it.”

Finally being able to rub my forehead, I nodded. “Yeah, I'm fine.”
Then I picked up on what he said. “I have a scent?”

He nodded, and I was even more confused. I couldn't even feel my
demon inside me and now I have a scent? I didn't even get a warning. God,
something is wrong with me. Maybe I was just so engrossed by other things that
I wasn't noticing. “Perfect. Thanks, by the way.”

“No need to thank me,” he replied. “Come on, I'll walk you back inside.”

As safe as it would be in there, I still felt like I was inside a
sauna and I didn't think that going back inside was going to help with that.
Shaking my head, I said, “No, it's okay. I think I'm just going to head home.”

“Are you sure? Do you want me to send out Melinda or Daniel?”

I couldn't help but smile. “Thanks, but I'll be alright. Ryan's just
an idiot, and it's starting to freak me out that you care. I'm kind of
wondering what happened to the old Ethan.”

He rolled his eyes, nodding with a smile. Like, he actually smiled.
“Yeah yeah, I can care can't I? But you honestly shouldn't have to take his
shit. Just drain him and get it over and done with.”

I arched a brow. “What about the rules?”

He lifted his shoulders in a meaningless shrug. “There are always
exceptions. Anyway, I have to go do some things, are you sure you're going to
be alright?”

I probably wasn't, but I nodded anyway. As much as it sounded
stupid, but I just wanted to stay out here, get rid of this headache and soon
enough, I'll go back inside.

“Alright, I'll be back later.” With one look around the area, he
vanished into thin air, a cloud of smoke being the only remnants of him. He's
really lucky that no one is around, and that it's dark. Maybe he just doesn't
care if he got caught... I highly doubt it.