Her words stung, drawing me out of my daydreams of bleeding the kraken dry.
Monster.
It is what I am, what I have always been, but her words were a splash of cold water to my system.
Yes, I was a monster.
But I was so much more than that, wasn’t I?
Wasn’t I?
I looked down at my book as I wondered if there was some truth to her words, given my ability to leap to the ideals of murder where Violet was concerned.
I’d never felt so… so... possessive over anyone in my life.
I bristled in my seat as I flipped another page, not looking at her directly.
“Delaney is right,” I said curtly.
“She also told me you and Wanda were... a... thing.”
“Delaney is worse than the tabloids,” I huffed. “Though I don’t see how that has to do with anything,” I murmured.
“Um... I mean, it matters... to me,” she said quietly.
I huffed indignantly. “I do not dwell on my past... experiences,” I said calmly.
The truth was, there was nothing to really tell of the matter. Wanda was like all the women before her. It wasn’t like we were emotionally connected. We fucked around at the beginning of the school year, but that was it. She tired of me and my cursed cock when a pretty new first year darling graced the steps of Blackthorn, and suddenly cock was no longer fetch.
Or whatever it is the fishy bitches in Mean Girls say.
“What happened?” she pressed.
I sighed, figuring it best to answer her, if only because I didn’t want her to ask Wanda. Lord knows she would fabricate some sort of tall tale, if only to spite me and stir the shit pot.
“The short version is that I had fulfilled her needs, and she moved on.”
“You didn’t love her?” Violet asked, her voice quiet.
I guffawed. “No, I did not.”
“So it was... just... sex? Like casual hookups or something?”
I nodded. “Wanda is quite... fickle when it comes to her preferences. She reaped her benefits, as did I. Love did not factor in our... engagements... at all.”
Violet pursed her lips, the silence between us palpable before she spoke.
“Is that what it’s always like? With you and those you... feed on?”
My heart sank at her words, because hearing them from her mouth made it so much more true. I also knew what she meant to say, but thought better of.
From the moment I went into heat, that was all that mattered.
Lust, sex, and magic. It is how I built my power, how I became the incubus I am today.
There was no room for love even if I wanted it. Not then.
But now...
