I had turned what little seductive power I had inherited from my succubus father into charisma. I was never able to push my sexuality forward, but I could force my personality. Which is why I felt so much disdain and confusion about Malarthe’s accusations. I had never been able to render myself seductive.
But I had an idea that cropped up. I checked my phone for the date of my life anew and the date of my brief stent in court. I thumbed through the calendar and put a few things together. My brow involuntarily twitched. “Gre?”
My mate stuck his head from the portal and smiled, far too chipper for someone who had just lost his home. “Yes?”
I turned my phone around and flashed him the screen. He put his load down outside the room and stared at it with confusion. “Our eight-week anniversary?”
“So, like… Wait, you remember that?” I sat up and laughed.
“Do I remember the day I bound my eternal soul to a cute little type A legal beagle of an omega demon? Yes.” He laughed. “So, what were you trying to show me?”
“Oh, this was the day of the case. Day after. What’s the issue?” He searched my face, smile fading into something guilty.
“Nothing really, but I think I know why Malarthe was—” I made a gesture with my index finger and whistled, pantomiming an erection. Ausmius rose up the wall behind me as a giant phallic shadow. Gre glanced up at it, brows raising.
“Oh?”
“Maybe I was in heat or something like it?” I frowned. “It would make sense?”
“Quite the boner he was sporting. I don’t blame him.” Gre grinned at me.
“Eh. I’ve seen better.” I glanced him up and down. “Ihavebetter.”
“Please, young master, please wait until we’re finished.” One of the men sighed raggedly as he exited the portal and glanced between it and the room. “We want the shelves, too? If not, we can close it.”
Gre peered in, made sure it was evacuated and snapped his finger with a puff of stale air. “That was the last of the spaces…”
“What about that one that was in the trunk of your car?” I glanced over, and he pursed his lips before opening a portal. Stale, smoky air rolled out for but a blink before he closed it.
“Nope.” He waved his hand and drew a sigil in the air to annex it and dispel the magic. “Maybe…”
He opened another portal and pulled out a shoebox, the paperboard of it indecently old and dusty. “Can’t believe I almost forgot this.”
“What’s that?” I craned my neck over as he clawed out a few more items from the space and closed it with a snap of his fingers.
“Baby pictures. The letter I was surrendered with.” He handwaved me off, but I forged my way forward to him to open the box and look within.
Two proud suited males held a babe between them, smiling wide, the young Gre in human form, as he’d stay until puberty when the shift took over. I leafed through the pictures. “Those your fathers?”
“My adoptive fathers, yes. Both giraffes.” Gre smiled at them. “They’ve long since passed from this world. The only reason I’m not an old man is because of my deal with the goddesses. I found magic and secured my stay on this plane.”
“Were they good people?” I pulled out a yellowed piece of paper, rife with an enchantment to preserve it. It was a birth record. April 17th, 1942, 8:45pm. 7lbs 8oz. Alpha father: Giraffe shifter. Omega father: Human.Nothing else.
“They named me Greginald.” Gre gave me alookthat spoke more than he ever would about it.
“Fair point. I rather like Esmeray myself. My parents did good.” I patted Gre’s shoulder. “But I like Gre.”
“I do, too. Let’s be conscientious about naming our little one, shall we?” Gre whispered those words, eyes not meeting my own. “I want them to love their name, too.”
“They’ll love their name. I promise. Demons take great pride in giving their children good names.” I reached out and pulled his hand to my stomach. “And in eleven months we’ll figure it out.”
“Eleven?” Gre’s face lit up with confusion and then realization. “Right. Thirteen months.”
“Means we have a little more time than you’d bargained for?” I smiled, praying he had better insight than I did. He’d made big promises.
“Absolutely! Your father… I need to talk to him, but yes. He says he thinks he can escalate my application to the top of the pile.” He cleared his throat nervously.
“That means you’ve got the job. He’s blackmailed someone.” I snorted and choked on a laugh. Dad was a demon, true to his name and rank.
