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He shakes his head. “It’s nothing.”
“No, it’s something,” I insist, aware of how squirmy he’s gotten. “What is Porter? Because considering I may have to become like him, I think I deserve to know.”
His Adam’s apple bobs as he swallows hard. “You’re right. You deserve to know.” He scoots closer to me and takes both my hands in his, holding onto me. “Porter is part incubus, which is a type of demon. An undead demon, but most demons are. I’m not sure if you know much about incubuses, but they feed off of sexual desires. But since Porter is also an elemental protector, he has to feed off of power too.”
My mind struggles to process what he said. “I don’t… How… Why did he become one of them?”
Sadness takes over his face. “Porter has always been kind of a risk taker, but he took things too far when he tried to travel through a secured magical connection without practicing. He ended up permanently separating his spirit from his body, which means his body was going to die. Since his essence was stuck in his body, it meant when he died, his spirit and soul couldn’t connect to the elemental protectors’ afterlife, so he was going to end up in the underworld with all the rest of the wandering souls that have died. When the banshee showed up to collect his soul and take it to the underworld, Porter managed to strike a deal. She agreed to return his soul and spirit to his body and in return Porter would become a certain type of demon, one that can collect souls for her, also known as an incubus, hence the reason that he can soul-tether. He only does it occasionally when the banshee calls on him to collect a soul, or when Max needs help tracking down an outlaw with a corrupt sou. But Porter constantly struggles with his incubus powers, especially the hunger part of it. And I’m not talking about a hunger for food.”
Incubus? Feeding off of sexual desires and powers? Collecting souls for a banshee?
“Does that mean he’s going to give my soul to the banshee?” I ask, horrified.
He swiftly shakes his head. “Porter may be weird and sometimes make some stupid decisions, but he cares about you. Plus, my brothers and I would never let him do anything that would hurt you.”
His words would reassure me if there wasn’t another huge problem.
“But he said I might have to become like him?” I whisper. “I don’t want to be a… I think succubus is the female term for his kind, right?”
East nods then reaches out and cups my face between his hands. “We’ll find another way,” he promises. “You won’t have to become like him. I promise.”
“You keep making promises to me,” I say, feeling heavy as reality settles onto me.
“I know. And while I joke around a lot, I don’t with my promises. Especially with this one because I in no way shape or form want you to have to deal with what Porter does on a daily basis.” He pauses, mulling over something. “Although, seeing that sexual side of you would be a total turn on.”
I narrow my eyes at him. “Don’t start with me, dude.”
He gives me an innocent look. “Start what?”
“You know what,” I say, but he only grins. I lean away from his hands with a sigh. “So where does this leave me? I mean, what do we do next?”
His smile broadens but then dissipates as his gaze snaps in the direction behind me.
“Well, considering how repulsed you are by what I am, I’d suggest we start looking for another way to permanently get darkness out of you.” Porter’s voice sails over my shoulder.
Drawn to him by an unseen force, I twist around. The instant our gazes collide, my mouth salivates with hunger. And not a hunger for food.
He has demon blood inside him.
He’s an incubus.
Holy crap.
“I’m not repulsed by you. I just don’t think I can handle becoming a demon.” My words are surprisingly truthful. “I can barely handle being an elemental enchanter and a power source… Although, I think I haven’t even tried to deal with the latter yet.”
His gaze skims across me with doubt. “You’re not afraid of what I am?”
I shake my head. “No, not really.”
“Hmmm…” He rubs his scruffy jawline. “That’s probably either because of the link or the soul tethering.”
Maybe he’s right, but I don’t know. While I find Porter unsettling sometimes, I’m not straight up terrified of him, even after learning what he is. And considering he saved me from darkness, how could I be?
“I wouldn’t try to overanalyze it, honey.” Porter’s gaze bores into mine, binding me in some sort of trance that I’m pretty sure is being caused by the soul tethering. Although, I’m not positive. “How you feel about me isn’t really important. Not when we’ve got so much other shit on our plate to worry about. Although, we might have one less problem to worry about soon.”
East stands up and moves beside me, standing so close his arm brushes against mine. “Did you guys figure out another solution to keep darkness out of her?”
Porter shakes his head, his intense gaze lingering on me for a faltering moment before he looks at East. “Hunter found a way to fix the link.”
