“Is it the same for an Incubus?”
He hums. “They don’t have an Amoro. It’s called something different, but the name escapes me. Though, they have something similar, yes.”
Narrowing my eyes, I ask, half hoping he’ll actually answer the fucking question, “Why do you know so much about them?” I refuse to sayherbecause I may snap.
“Let’s just say, my kind and hers are mortal enemies, so I’ve had to learn about them, for obvious reasons.” My eyes round and the moment my body goes rigid, he raises a hand right in front of my face. “Relax. The last thing I want to do is hurt her.”
You know what…
“Yeah?” I tilt my head. “What is it youwantto do with my girl?” My lip twitches as he slowly smiles.
This isn’t a place for us to fight.
IknowI need to stay calm, but the way he hesitates is testing every single thread of restraint I have.
“We both want the same thing, Kairhyse.” The ways that statement can be taken tips me over the ledge. “To get her back. So, let’s not fight. It doesn’t do her any good.”
My jaw clenches as I step to him, my hand pressing against the doorhandle. “I’ve made this very clear on several occasions, but I’ll keep reminding you, because you seem to have short term memory.” All he does is keep that filthy smirk on his face. “When I getmygirl back, you better disappear.” Pressing my index finger to the center of his chest, I push him back. “Or I’ll reduce you to nothing more than shit under my heel.”
Pushing open the door, I regret not peeking through the thin glass window before doing so. I am no stranger to death, but something about this scene does churn my stomach.
Six or more bodies lay drained of life on the singular twin bed that rests against the adjacent wall. There are two windows, both cracked open, right above it. My gaze trails off to my left, where another body lays limp over a chair. All of them naked, mostly male, but I see at least one female in the pile.
Alaric brushes past me, making his way over to a downed chair in the middle of the room. There are no heartbeats, and he has to assume they are dead, so when he presses a hand to the back of one of the bodies, I’m confused by the action.
He hums, narrowing his eyes. “They were killed by means of their lifeforces being depleted.”
I’ve never seen Xeraphine kill in this manner, and truthfully, I’d prefer the bloody way over this. The faces that I can see are frozen in shock, their mouths agape, and cheeks hollowed out like they were emptied of life. Their eyes, wide and vacant, resemble punctured balloons, lifeless and eerie. Their skin ashen, marred with spots of black, brown, or white, depending on their natural complexion. It's a death that feels unnatural, like something beyond Mundane understanding.
It's haunting.
Swallowing, I step up beside him. “Let’s see if we can find her mother.”
“Do you know what she looks like?” he asks just as he begins moving the top body.
Shaking my head, I shift one over, tossing it from the foot of the bed. “Not from seeing her, but Xera mentioned they had similar features. I’ll know if I see her.”
As we get to the third body, it’s clear there are more, but after the fifth there is no point in moving them anymore. The rest are men, and the two women that are in the pile look nothing like my little demon. One has warm, brown skin, while the other is white with blonde hair and a completely different facial structure.
“Xeraphine said that her father was the Incubus,” I offer. “It wouldhave been a meaningless lie to say it was her father that was the Demon, verses her mother.”
“Hmm.” Alaric crosses his arms over his chest as he leans back slightly. “I don’t know anything about her parents. Tell me, did she ever mention what happened to her father?”
“He was sunk to the bottom of the sea, a means to keep him dead.”
He laughs. “Very creative.”
I don’t comment, just wait briefly to see if he will give anything further that would be useful to this conversation.
“Could be that her father is back, took her mother, and then went after Xeraphine.” Something doesn’t feel right, but before I can say anything, he continues, “You said that there was a woman with Lars, right?” I nod. “Maybe it was her mother. Incubi can manipulate just as strongly as a Succubus can, especially if there is infatuation.”
“According to Sydni, her father was obsessed with her mother.” Just more information my little butterfly had, and I am more than appreciative for it. We spoke a lot during the time Xeraphine was first taken, and though I didn’t think much of it, I’m glad she chose to share those details with me. At the time, it seemed like trivial conversation, but now, each word carries weight, a reminder of how well she knew Xeraphine, and I didn’t.
He nods. “This is all speculation. It could be a completely different Demon, but her mother not being here is leading me to believe her father has something to do with this.”
Turning away from him, I scan the walls. “It just seems odd.” There is nothing other than a few photos, which I can quickly tell are of my Xeraphine. “She didn’t know her father. According to her, he died before she had the chance to meet him as a teen.” Come to think of it, when she would mention him, which wasn’t much, she never described what he looked like. She said her mother looks just like her, but never anything about him.
Like she had never seen him, even in her first six years of life, and that includes any images of him after his apparent ‘death’.
