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But Daeary sighed, and her head whipped back.
“Yes.”
That one word hung heavy in the air, pressing down on my chest as if I were being crushed beneath a mountain. My heart clenched as the girl and I both stared at the incubus. Beth clutched the amulet around her neck, her face white with shock.
She jumped to her feet and paced, all the while talking to herself. I could only make out the odd fragment, but it was enough to tell me how shaken she was. “I’m his what? What does that even mean?”
I held my peace while the girl struggled to compose herself. If I were in her shoes, I would probably be reacting the same way. Bound to a demon such as him? Not the fate I would choose for myself or anybody I cared for.
When I turned back to Daeary, the pain in his dull eyes was overwhelming. The fire had gone out, like coal that was charred until there was nothing left but gray dust. His eyes drifted closed, and he exhaled shakily. I waited for his next breath. It didn’t come.
Beth blanched and rushed to his side, grabbing his shoulders. “No. Daeary.”
That’s when I felt a sensation where my hand touched his body—as if something tugged deliciously in my lower belly, as if somebody was stroking against me, making me hard. The girl hummed, shifting her hips. Her hands brushing across the demon’s body, she looked a hairbreadth away from mounting him.
A wave of fatigue washed over me. Daeary gasped and his eyes flew open. Quickly, I pulled Beth’s hands away. “Careful. He has no control over his needs. If you let him, he would suck you dry.”
She raised her hands and stared at them. When she looked at him, there was genuine fear in her gaze. She would have felt the demon’s bottomless hunger, the same as I had. Daeary would be recovered after feeding off his mate, at least in the short term. But Beth would not be. In her current state, she would likely die from a coupling. And yet, he needed her life force to survive.
Such was the curse of the incubi.
Chapter twenty-four
BETH
Myheadwastoofuzzy to even try to deconstruct what I’d just learned. So I ignored the whole crazy “mate” business and instead focused on saving the man’s life. If we didn’t come up with something, he was going to die right in front of us.
“Stay with us, Daeary,” I urged, my voice cracking. “We’ll figure this out.”
His gaze met mine, a flicker of hope sparking in his dull eyes. But I also saw the fear that lay beneath, the knowledge of what would happen if we failed.
Dyf got to his feet. He stared at the incubus with controlled indifference, his hand holding a rock he’d picked up. “He is a danger to you. I cannot allow him to live.”
I struggled to my feet, putting myself between him and the demon. “No. You can’t just kill him.”
“I can, and I will.” Dyf’s jaw was set and his gaze fierce. “He is a deadly fiend, Beth. You know what they do. How they feed.”
“Don’t,” I pleaded, my voice shaking. “Please, Dyf. We can find another way.”
“Another way?” The merman scoffed, his eyes flicking to the incubus, who’d closed his eyes in surrender. “How? By letting him suck you dry? Do you really think he would resist the temptation when he is this desperate?”
Images, memories, flashed through my mind, of feeling Daeary inside of me as he drained my life at the same time. But we’d also had sex in the tavern with Bleddyn, and I didn’t die. I might be one of the few people who’d survived sex with an incubus. He’d never intentionally hurt me, I was sure of that.
“Maybe he can’t. But that doesn’t mean I will give up on him.”
“Give up on him?” Dyf echoed, incredulous. “The only reason he is still alive is because of you. He tried siphoning off your energy. He could kill you, especially in his weakened state.”
His words stung, but I refused to back down. “I know the risks. But I also know there has to be a better way. One that doesn’t involve killing someone I care about.”
There. I’d said it. My words stopped me cold as they came out of my mouth. Rubbing my chest where my heart beat frantically, I stared at the dying incubus. I cared for him. Damn. When did that happen?
I clenched my teeth as I imagined the man before me drawing his final breath, and my whole body seized in protest. Dyf searched my face for a long moment as I held his gaze defiantly. Then he sighed, the fight draining out of him.
“Fine. But if things go wrong, if he hurts you even a little, I will not hesitate to end him.”
“Thank you.” Relief surged through me, and I took a deep breath, turning my mind to how to save Daeary. And that’s when I got stuck. I couldn’t touch him because the incubus was so starved, he’d kill me in a few moments. I scooted closer to the motionless demon, careful not to touch him.
“Daeary.”
