MacRieve (Immortals After Dark) (25 page)

“If you kill her, you canna ever get her back. . . .”

After an unavoidable exchange of blows with Munro, Will tore through the woods, his brother’s parting words replaying in Will’s disordered mind.

Munro seemed to think Will
shouldn’t
murder the parasite who had
wormed her way into their home and lives. She was lucky his beast had risen. Otherwise she’d likely be dead.

Will had been maddened with rage—yet his beast had accepted Chloe as his, had been tempering
Will’s
actions. Even as Will had craved to kill her, his Instinct had been commanding him —
Protect, provide.
—

He wondered if his Instinct understood that providing for her meant jeopardizing his entire existence and risking her venom bond.

A succubus just fed off my body.
Hatred seethed inside him, so thick he thought he’d choke on it. This couldn’t be happening. He’d bloody liked Chloe, relishing her passion, her spirit. He’d thought his life was finally turning around.

I thought I could refashion myself.
Now, impossible.

Though he could normally run leagues without getting winded, he couldn’t catch his breath. He stumbled, then leaned over, palms on his knees, sucking in air.

Suffocating. The deep pulling him down. Chloe had fed off him. Just like Ruelle.

Her claws had dug into his hips as she sucked him, fed, then teed him up for another round. For another feeding. Because she would never be satisfied.

Why did this keep happening to him? He was right back to Hungary.

No, first he would punish Webb. Now he would have no qualms about using Chloe—

Realization struck. Webb had to have known what she was. He’d found out she was changing, and he’d washed his hands of her. Chloe had been looking for her father because the man had abandoned her. Of course.

He stilled. She would have put that together herself by now. Was she devastated by the betrayal? Stricken? Had she cried?

He roared, slashing through a tree. The need to protect her still assailed him.

Her entire life had been upended. He pictured how she’d been in his room earlier, stunned, defenseless. Aye, she’d been defenseless. Just like Ruelle. Will wondered if he would climb over his mother’s corpse to
protect this succubus as well. At the thought, he banged his head against a stalwart pine, cracking it, bloodying himself.

Felt good. Necessary. Like that blow his father had delivered. So Will rammed his head over and over.

He’d believed that he had a true connection with Chloe, that she was as aroused by him as he was by her. Instead, she’d been coldly serving him up.

Ruelle must be laughing in her grave.

“Ahhh!”
he bellowed, swinging his arm, ripping his flared claws through another tree.

He watched it topple. Felled.

Just like me.

TWENTY-FOUR

For the second time in three days, Munro climbed the stairs to his brother’s room with a heavy heart.
I’m going to lose him.

When he and Will had fought moments ago, Munro had come up with many reasons why Will shouldn’t kill Chloe. But anticipating Will’s rebuttal of each, he’d voiced none of them.

For instance, if Munro had pointed out that Will could only have bairns with Chloe, Will would have comprehended that his offspring would be part incubus or succubus.

Heap yet another worry into this situation, then slow boil.

Munro too had call to hate Chloe’s kind. He’d lost his mother and father, and on some dark days, he feared he’d lost his brother that night as well.

But Munro’s Instinct was telling him to protect Chloe, his
deirfiúr
, his sister. According to fate, according to all the Lykae believed, this female was Will’s future. She was Munro’s family.

Make no decisions.
He would talk to her, discover more about her. He’d decided that one of the two brothers had to approach this rationally. Straightening his shoulders, he knocked on the door.

She didn’t answer. After a hesitation, he entered.

She was sitting at the window, staring out. At the guard Munro had posted below?

Her looks were altered. Her hair was wavy and longer, shining in the morning light. Her curves were more accentuated. Her biological imperative was to feed off men; in a rush of changes, she’d become even more attractive to them.

He frowned at the bloody towel wrapped around her hand. “What happened?” he asked, even as he deduced the answer. “You dinna like your new reflection.”

She remained silent, watchful. Probably fearing all Lykae after Will had revealed his beast.

Even Munro had been shocked by the sight. With his ice-blue irises glowing in the darkened room, Will had looked so much like their father had in those last hours. . . . “I’m no’ going to hurt you, Chloe. Do you understand me?”

“Why should I trust you? You’re twin to that thing out there. Are you like that too?”

“Well, almost exactly.”

“You know what I mean. A monster.”

“When I lose control over my emotions or my aggression, I would look like that.”

She shuddered again. “Is what he said true? Am I a succubus?”

“Aye. That’s your scent. I doona know why you’ve changed. You were human last night. Mayhap you reached a certain age and transitioned. I canna say.”

She finally faced him. “Am I immortal?”

“Can I see your hand?”

She unwrapped the towel. The lacerations were already healing.

He exhaled with relief. “It’s regenerating. Quickly. You’re immortal. That’s one less worry, at least.” He well knew what it was like to dread a human’s fragility.

She gazed up from under a lock of her now-flowing hair. “Why are you being nice to me? I saw the look on your face when you scented what I am.”

“Did Will explain what our Instinct is?” When she nodded, he said, “His Instinct tells him you’re his mate. Mine is telling me you’re my sister. That has no’ changed for me, no matter what you are.”

“There’s that phrase—no matter what you are.”

“Has someone else said it?” When she remained silent, he said, “You can trust me. I will help you with this.”

“How can I trust you? Obviously, your kind hates . . . mine.”

“My family has had a bitter history with succubae. A tragic one.”

“Like what?”

“That’s no’ my story to tell,” he said cautiously. “It’s complicated. Just know that this is difficult for everyone involved.”

“Difficult.” She gave a harsh laugh. “Did you almost just die at the hands of a monster? ’Cause that was
difficult.
” She stood. “I’ve gotta get ghost from this place. I’d rather risk the snake men than see that beast again.”

“Will’s beast will no’ hurt you.”

“No? You didn’t see, but it was bellowing at me, shaking me.”

“Unfortunately, that was all Will. His beast rose up to
protect
you.” When she appeared disbelieving, he said, “Can I level with you, Chloe? Those beings beyond the wall would rape you without cease, and you would pray you were still mortal so you could die from it. Here, no one will touch you.”

“Not even your brother?”

“Especially no’ him. Come take a walk with me, and I’ll tell you what I know about your kind.” When he waved her toward the door, she hesitated. “Are you no’ curious?”

With a grudging look, she complied.

Downstairs, they passed the boys. Rónan, never shy, said, “You really a seed-feeder?”

Munro scolded, “Language, Rónan!”

The boy couldn’t use that word, but MacRieve could call her that to her face? “Apparently I am.”

“What does that mean?”

“Beats the hell out of me, kid.”

Munro opened a french door for her, saying over his shoulder, “If Will returns, tell him we went out for a spell.”

Outside, they walked in silence past a couple holding hands. When the pair turned to stare at Chloe, Munro wondered if Rónan had already made the rounds, telling everyone that Will’s mate was a succubus.

Chloe gave a humorless laugh. “Yesterday they were all smiles and waves. Now I’ve got a scarlet
S
on my chest. That puts things into perspective, doesn’t it? They’ll accept the daughter of someone they hate like Webb, but not a succubus?”

“They doona know how to react. Lykae doona naturally revile succubae, no’ unless they’ve call to.”

“And your brother does? Come on, I can recognize utter hatred when I see it.”

“Did you know this was going to happen?” he asked, deflecting the subject.

She narrowed her eyes, but allowed it. “I knew something was off inside me. My senses went haywire a few weeks ago.”

“That’s common for transitioning halflings.”

“I told my dad about it. He said I needed to avoid a trigger, but didn’t tell me what it was. He hinted that my mom was an immortal, but again, wouldn’t tell me what kind.”

“A trigger? It must have been when you and Will had sex.”

She whipped her head up. “We didn’t. Not all the way. We just fooled around.”

Differently than they had yesterday?
Oh.
Munro could deduce what the trigger had been. She’d . . . fed for the first time.

Judging by Chloe’s blushing, she’d deduced it as well. “Your father
dinna tell you no’ to be with men . . . that way? I would think he’d do anything to keep you from turning.”

“He probably didn’t think he had anything to worry about. I never had much interest in guys.”

“I see. It’s no’ unheard of for a halfling’s powers or . . . appetites to be dormant until some catalyst. I’ve heard of a human halfling becoming a Valkyrie after a lightning strike.”

“I had no idea about any of that. Dad just plopped the
Book of Lore
in my lap and took off on a business trip. He told me we’d talk when he returned. He . . . he never did. His phone was disconnected.” Her voice wavered, which clearly aggravated her. “The next thing I know, I’ve got Lore creatures in my house and I’m getting kidnapped.”

“I’m sorry, Chloe.” Munro couldn’t even imagine her confusion and fear. Again that protectiveness surged within him. “Considering his hatred of immortals, your father probably believed his actions merciful.”

She shrugged, feigning indifference. “So spill about succubae. Give it to me straight. I’m a big girl.”

He only had vague reports from others to draw from, and his brother’s bitter recollections of Ruelle. “You’re a cambion—a human and succubus halfling, which makes you part of the Ubus Peoples. They hail from the Ubus Realm, located on a hidden plane. Males are incubi, females are succubae. No’ much is known about your kind. Some say males can fly and females can turn invisible. All we know for certain is that your species draws nourishment from a partner’s sexual release.”

“So when MacRieve called me a seed-feeder, was that . . . literal?”

Munro pulled at his collar, as uncomfortable with this as she clearly was. It was like explaining the birds and the bees—to his brother’s mate. “Some say there’s a mystical energy with release, and your species can convert it to a life force.” Could this be any more awkward? “In that case, seed could be just an attractant of sorts, kind of the icing on the . . .” He trailed off. “Any metaphor I come up with at this point is just going to sound perverted.”

Her cheeks flushed even brighter red. “I get it.”

“Others say, well, that the physical, uh, result is what gets converted.” He coughed into his fist. “I do know it can be from intercourse or oral sex.” Will had once revealed that though Ruelle could feed both ways, she’d never deigned to perform oral sex and had no interest in it herself.

“How often do I have to do that? Months? Weeks?”

“Since you’re young, you’ll need it more often. I’d guess every day. Mayhap every other.”

Her face paled. “That much?” she cried. “What happens if I don’t?”

“For a cambion, I doona rightly know. But for a succubus, the longer she goes, the more intense her desire for a male grows. By a certain point, she becomes mindless and animalistic with need.” Like the succubae who’d stalked Will, intent on raping him.

Gods, mayhap this
was
far too much to ask of him.

“Great. Anything else?”

“If you have intercourse with the same male more than three times, you can bind him to you, envenoming him—”

“Like venom out of fangs?” She was aghast.

“No, no, it’s a
mystical
bond. Once that tie is formed, he’ll sicken without you.” He recalled Will rocking in his bed, covered in sweat. “I understand that it’s like heroin withdrawal, but it never gets better.”

She gave him an incredulous look. “Then why would anyone have sex with a succubus in the first place?”

“You’re bonny. And you can emit chemicals that make males crazed. It’s called strewing.”

“
How
do I emit them?”

“From what I understand, it comes from your verra breath. It’s scentless, so it’s impossible to detect until the result is felt. Even an unwilling male would find it difficult to resist, if no’ impossible. Mated males are thought to be immune.”