“Everything?” I say in a small voice.
The idea is terrifying. Legit, fall off a cliff into a pit of sharp rocks terrifying. But they already know I’m a runaway princess. They know I’m a Succubus, and I even accidently hurt them with my power. And they are still here, ready and willing to help me and help Talon.
By the timewe push through the door of Poison Apple, Rap’s already there. A full pot of coffee steams on the counter. She has a mug in hand and an alert look in her eye. Between that and the thick eyeliner she sports, I can’t help but wonder if she was already awake.
Her eyes land on me. Keen. Calculating. “You said vampires took him?”
“Yes,” Snow answers before I can. “Organized. Not random.”
Rap’s jaw ticks. “I’ve been hearing chatter for weeks. Bodies disappearing. People turned. The vampire count in Boston has been slow but steady over the last ten years or so, but the last month? There’s been a notable uptick.” Her brows furrow.“There’s also a rise in mage disappearances in the neighboring city. My gut tells me that’s not a coincidence.”
“A month ago? That’s when Talon and I started working here,” I say, my voice thin with panic. “When I became a Lost Girl.”
Rap’s eyes narrow. “Someone noticed you.”
“No.” I shake my head. “They noticedhim.Mal wants Talon.”
“Mal? You mean Kai’s sister?” Ariel asks.
I nod. “Yes, she’s the one who cursed me. Kai was right about all of it. She was engaged to my father who broke off the engagement and married my mother a couple weeks later. She was exiled from the Midnight Kingdom by her father, but what no one knows is she came to Realm of Roses. She broke into the castle and she...cursed me.” It’s hard to force the words out. I’ve never told a single solitary person in my life. Despite the acceptance I’ve received, my insides still quake as I lay it all out. “She cursed me in my crib before she was run off. When I had my first…um…sexual experience I…uh… I...”
Ariel touches my arm and gives me an encouraging smile. “It’s okay. You can tell us.”
I look at the ceiling to blink back the stinging in my eyes. “I found out I was a Succubus. After that I had to regularly feed, and my partners never survived. Talon would take care of the details. He would pick people who deserved to meet their fate.” My words are rushed as I try to explain. “But I didn’t want to be that way anymore. I came here and tried to get away from what I’ve done, from what I am. And it’s been so hard.” The words cracks. I scrub my hands over my face. “If I hadn’t come here, Talon wouldn’t have been forced to follow. He’s been taking care of me while making sure no one else got hurt. And because of me, he’s been taken by Mal for fae lords know what.”
“That Dragon blood made noise.” Rap pours herself another coffee, black and violent. “Noise travels fast. Faster than we realized.”
“So where is she keeping him?” Snow demands. “I’ve been tracking the vampire movement for the last couple weeks, but it’s erratic. Hard to pin down.”
Ariel pulls out her phone. “What’s the pattern? Show me on the map.”
Snow begins dropping pins on Ariel’s phone.
Ariel analyzes it, chewing on her lip. “Disappearances, feeding dens, drain sites. It’s a web. But there’s a center.”
Rap taps her nail on the map. “If Mal has Talon in one of these old crypts, there’s likely power running to it. These aren’t Midnight Fae. These are Boston people turned vampire. They aren’t going to forego the luxury of electricity. Let me make a call and we can find out which one is lit up.” She steps away, already on the phone.
“I’m gonna go shake down Kai. He was an absolute ass to Aurora, but he wouldn’t be down with this. If he can help us find out where she is, he’ll do it. Even if I have to beat it out of him.”
“Love you, babe,” Ariel says. “But I’m not sure you’ve got what it takes to make Kai squeal.”
Snow shrugs. “Then I’ll get Cinder to step on his balls with her spiky platform boots until he submits.” With that, she’s out the door.
Rap stays on the phone in the corner, barking orders. Ariel keeps working at her map, fingers flying over her screen, piecing together routes and patterns.
And me?
I sink onto one of the barstools. For a moment, it’s just me and a cup of coffee going cold between my hands. The sun is creeping up, bleeding pale light over the Boston skyline. It’s nearly six AM.
My thoughts spiral back to that young vampire sneering at me.“You’re not as powerful or dangerous as she said.”
It was right before Talon went full Dragon, right before everything unraveled. We got swept away by the fight, by each other. But those words haven’t stopped bouncing around my head.
Mal told them I was dangerous. Powerful.
But surely, she didn’t mean I’d roll over and spread my legs in order to murder them. No, she was warning them about something else. She meant something else.
She knew. Sheknewmy hunger, my power, could leave my body. That I could weaponize the curse she strapped to my soul. When my instincts lashed out and targeted Mal, she didn’t look surprised. Intrigued? Maybe. But not shocked.
