Counterpart (Succubi & Incubi Assn.) (44 page)

Frustration.

An electrical charge of energy was the thing that woke me up earlier
tonight. But that wasn't all that was in it. Just with the feel of her hand,
her perfectly smooth skin in mine, I could feel her lust. It was what brought
me back. If it wasn't for that piece of her, I'd probably still be passed
out—possibly dead. She saved me. She doesn't know it, but she did and I owed
her my life for that.

Ethan was the second person I saw when I awoke, the look on his face
passing for someone with anger. Melinda's raging voice was the next thing,
followed by her and Daniel—who I now knew as Maya's other friend—running up the
stairs.

It wasn't until Melinda gasped and said ‘
What the fuck happened
here?
’ that I noticed the destruction that had been caused. Glass was
everywhere. Shattered fragments of the mirrors and windows were sure to attract
attention but I couldn't think, I couldn't see past that moment because of the
girl that wasn't responding to the voices of her friends.

It wasn't exactly a good image with the way I hadn't touched her
since we returned. I don't know why I was finding it hard but I felt that if I
touched her, it would break something. I was treating her as if she was
fragile, when she was the strongest person I knew—or should I be calling her a
demon?

Demon.

It wasn't exactly a new word to me, everyone knew it. It had
multiple definitions depending on the person. Never once would I have put the
name next to Maya though. This was Maya Simmons we were talking about, the same
girl that I met at the park, spent days and nights with, laughed with, joked
with and I even developed a crush for her—does that make me sound like a pussy?
Fuck, I don't even care anymore.

“You're taking this a lot better than I thought,” Daniel said,
“Melinda and I had a bet, and honestly I put 20 on you running. No offense.”

“None taken.” I sighed. It was spot on what he was saying though. My
reaction probably surprised everyone. So she was a demon, a succubus, but she
was a human as well. I learned that she didn't have a choice in it, so what I
was I going to do? I guess I could've run. Matter of fact, that would make me
look like more of a pussy than the fact that I admitted I had feelings for her.
It was pretty obvious from the get-go that she was hiding something. Her
occasional nights where I'd see her, only for her to be having some PMS
bullshit, then she would go out with Melinda and be completely fine the next
day. Of course the only thing Noah concluded it to be was that she was on her
time of the month—even if it occurred more than once a month—and I settled with
agreeing. “It just answers a lot of questions.”

“I bet. Still though, you're not the slightest bit freaked out?” he
asked.

The question caught me off guard. Was I freaked out? I didn't feel
as if the world had ended so that should be something. Then again, I was really
more concerned about Maya making it out of this alive. “It will take a while to
get used to, I can tell you that.”

Daniel was sure to keep asking questions and I couldn't figure out
why he wanted to know so much. It was also starting to irritate me and I didn’t
easily get irritated. Luckily, Ethan made this his moment to come into the
conversation. “I think we have more important things to ask than Tristan's
reaction, don't you?”

The door behind me opened and I stepped to the side to let Melinda
out. There was a frown on her face as she stared down at the dress in her
hands. “This was my favorite dress from inside her closet.”

“Nice to know you care for the dress more than your friend, Mel—ouch,
fuck.”

“Don't question my friendship with Maya,” she hissed towards Daniel,
“I've spent the past God knows how long by her side. Now that I know that she's
alright, let me mourn over this fucking dress, okay.”

Daniel cowered slightly, expecting another hit to come from Melinda
and it was seriously hard for me to not laugh right then.

Trust Melinda to get sad over a dress.

Ethan sighed, watching the two. “It's amazing how side-tracked you
all can be. It's almost as if you can't take it seriously.”

I resisted sighing.
Wrong move, man.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Melinda turned to Ethan, her anger
suddenly moved away from Daniel—who was grateful. “You know more about any of
this than we do and you're telling
us
to take it seriously?” she
exclaimed, “I'll tell you what I'm serious about. My best friend was attacked
tonight by a bitch that managed to get past
you
and every other
official
out there. Right now, your face is becoming an easy target for my fist, so next
time you want to tell me to take it
seriously
, give me more information
than 'Oh, she was just attacked by Tori—or whatever her real fucking name
is—and now has a few wounds but don't worry, Rosa's here to save the day.'”

Automatic silence followed the sudden outburst from Melinda and we
were all waiting to see Ethan's reaction. I admit I was trying really hard not
to start laughing right now.

But no matter how frustrating it must be for Melinda, this guy—who
looked not much older than me—was standing there with his eyes narrowed. I’m
not much of a visual analyst but I was sure he was finding this amusing.

I should know. I've always been amused by Maya. I get more satisfied
when she gets pissed about it.

“Well?” Melinda said, her hands now sitting firmly on her hips.

“You know I can't tell you anything—”

“Bullshit.”

“Melinda, I told you to trust me so trust me. Have I given you a
reason to not?” he asked.

Melinda’s arm was instantly out and she was pointing towards me.
“Exhibit A.”

Slightly confused by this, I went to voice my opinion but Ethan—who
hadn’t averted his eyes a single bit—interrupted that thought when he said,
“Maya is a different story. I didn’t hear about what was going on until a few
seconds before I turned up. You should be lucky that I even turned up.”

This silenced Melinda and I was positively sure she was trying to
come up with a come-back for this because half the time, she doesn't like to be
wrong or corrected.

There’s a lot that I’ve learned since knowing both her and Maya.

“So what?” Daniel spoke up. “We just continue being in the dark,
continue telling Maya that nothing happened tonight? I'm telling you now that
she won't like that.”

“She'll have to deal. Until we can sort this out everyone needs to
continue their normal routine. It's not over, obviously. From now on, just be
cautious but not conspicuous. You're right, Penelope did get past us so that's
an even more of a reason to be careful. One sign of fear makes you look
vulnerable and we don't need that.”

All I was doing was watching as Melinda and Ethan had this staring
contest. I had to give Ethan props. Not even a single flinch came from him.
When Melinda was angry around anyone else, we all run to the next city. Shit,
the more I think about things the more I'm bruising my own manhood. Maybe the
sleep deprivation is starting to hit me. Yeah, that could be it.

There was a deep sigh from Melinda and her shoulders slumped in
defeat. “I'm trusting you this one time. Don't make me regret it.”

“Got it,” he replied.

“Alright.” Suddenly her attention was towards me and instinctively,
I was trying to figure out what
I
had done. It also wasn't helping that
a single finger was pointed at me. “You and Maya obviously need to talk, and
sort things out.” Relieved, I relaxed and nodded. I did want to talk to Maya.
Fuck knows how I was going to talk to her about it. “So,” she continued,
“Daniel and I are going to stay at Sophia's tonight. She has the day off
tomorrow so we won't be home until around lunch, maybe. I'm giving you guys the
night.”

“Thanks,” I said. She didn't really have to leave. I was sure Maya
and I would talk about it whether Mel and Daniel were here or not. She probably
expects us to have another fight—which is a possibility—but I wasn't going to
lead it to that. If Maya and I ever fell out again, I don't know how I was going
to take it. I knew her secret. That's why I got angry, because she didn't tell
me. She just doesn’t realize that I would fight for her, just like she fought
for me.

“But just know,” Melinda's voice changed to a lower tone. “The last
thing any of us want is another stand off between you two, because frankly the
mood Maya gets herself in starts getting annoying after a while, and I know I'm
her best friend, but if you plan on walking away again then tell her. And as
much as I would probably want to kill you, do it tonight.”

“Not a good first impression you’re putting on us, Mel,” Daniel
murmured, flicking his gaze to me. “We're not all like that,” he said, “only
Melinda is.”

I laughed shortly and said, “I believe it.” And I also respected her
words.

“Yeah, yeah.” Melinda grabbed Daniel's collar and started towards
the door. “Come on, I need to get rid of this dress. We'll see you in the
morning, Tristan.”

I didn't have time to answer before they headed towards the door but
Daniel's voice really grabbed my attention. “Why are you blushing? Are you
embarrassed that you just stood up to your little masturbation image?”

“Shut the fuck up, Daniel,” Melinda exclaimed, and then the door
closed.

Confused and curious, I moved my eyes towards the only other man
left in the room. “Please tell me she's talking about you.”

Ethan didn't answer for a couple of seconds. Eventually, he
shrugged. “She blurted her gratitude towards my music choices earlier on and it
seems that she has developed a crush.”

“Wow, looks like we're both having girl troubles,” I muttered,
finally able to move my feet back into Maya's room.

A chuckle from Ethan sounded. “Nope, just you.”
Of course
. I
wasn't sure if I should find that to be a bad thing or not. I guess we'll see
when she wakes up. “You were silent out there by the way,” he later stated.

I was semi-distracted by Maya's sleeping form when he talked. “Huh?
Oh, right. Not really my place to input.” I shrugged, slowly sitting down next
to her. “I honestly don't know what to say.”

“Maybe the truth about why you're really here,” he quickly answered.

My hand was wrapped around Maya's and the flinch that went through
my body caused me to slightly squeeze her hand. “What are you talking about?”

Ethan was on the other side of the bed, looking down at Maya before
bringing his eyes up to mine. Not that I was looking at him, but that burn that
you feel was there, so I knew he was staring. “You may have
Rosa
fooled and for your sake I'm glad
about that.” My brows furrowed and he continued, “but you don't have me fooled,
Tristan.” His voice didn't sound accusing, in fact it sounded like he was
negotiating. “I know exactly who you are.”

My first instinct was to be in denial, question what he was trying
to tell me. But as I looked down at Maya, I knew that my questioning wouldn't
get me anywhere. I sighed. “What do you want me to say? She's been through
enough as it is.”

“You could start by saying that she's not the first succubi you've
met, besides Penelope,” he said as my eyes finally snapped up to his. “But she
is however, the first one you haven't tried to kill.” My whole body went
rigged. I tried to find a bluff between his words but all I got was nothing.

He knew.

“How did you—”

“I know a lot more than I lead on,” Ethan interrupted, “I even know
more than you lead on. You know, she was always scared that she would kill you.
That she would drive you away. When in reality, you're both going to be the
death of each other.”

Guilt resided inside me and I couldn't deny what he was saying. What
if I was going to be the death of her? What if she was going to be the death of
me? After all these years, everything I was searching for was starting to turn
its back on me.

Just watching her—lying there completely unaware to everything
that’s happening—only made me hate myself for what I'd done. She was so
innocent. More innocent than she thought.

That saying about curiosity killing the cat was so much like this
situation right now. It was almost perfect.

Maya was the cat, but the twist was that it was
my
curiosity
that was killing her.

“You shouldn't have come looking for her so soon, Tristan. You're
both not prepared for the battle that's coming.”

And he was right. I hated that he was right.

“I can't fix this,” I said, “if I leave her, than she'll hurt even
more.”

“I know.” Ethan moved to stand behind me, and I knew we were both
staring at her. I wondered if she was having a dream. Maybe it's a dream where
she's riding a unicorn or something. She had this small smile on her face so at
least it wasn't a nightmare.

I don't know how I knew, but I could tell what Ethan was thinking.
It had been a thought that I was fighting with since day one. It fucked me off
that I’d even made this last this whole time.