“So, it’s like a period, except that it only lasts forty-eight hours, and instead of bleeding or cramping, he has the constant desire to ejaculate?”
Vyla nods. “Yeah, basically.”
“And during that time, he typically holes up in his trailer and asks us not to call or visit,” Riz adds.
“But he’ll still answer texts about orders or billing,” Natalie points out.
Natalie knew this about her boss before I knew it about my boyfriend. I’ll need to unpack that later.
“So he’s likely in his trailer?”
They nod.
“Can someone text or call him to confirm that he’s fine and just in the middle of his rut? Say it’s an emergency or do whatever you have to do to get him to respond. I just…have a really bad feeling.”
The three of them spring into action. Natalie pulls out her phone and starts typing. Vyla pulls hers out and calls him. Rizshouts over his shoulder that he’s going to check Nic’s trailer before racing out into the cold.
Vyla purses her lips. “Not answering.”
“Did it go straight to voicemail for you?” I ask.
She nods.
Natalie’s staring at her screen, waiting for a response. I take this opportunity to get my steps in by pacing around the bar. Five minutes eke by, then ten. He still hasn’t responded to Natalie’s text by the time Riz returns, amazingly not sweating or out of breath after running to Nic’s trailer and back.
“He’s not there,” he says grimly. “These were on the ground outside.” In his hand are Nic’s keys.
I feel myself stumble, but I recover almost as quickly. Crippling fear is replaced by something deep. Feral. I suppose you could call it passion, or maybe it’s the other side of the coin. “Where does Gemma live?”
Vyla insists on taking me to Gemma’s house, while Riz and Natalie agree to stay at the bar until they hear otherwise from us.
“She’s a demon, you know,” Vyla says as we walk up her driveway. “A succubus. Do you know what that means?”
My nails dig into my palm as I clench my fist. In my other hand is a wooden baseball bat I found in Nic’s office. “I know it might take more than a few swings to pop her head off, but I’ve got time.”
She grabs my arm. “Lindsay, she’s got enhanced physical strength. She’s stronger than Dominic when she wants to be. She also has powers of manipulation and seduction.” Vyla sighs. “Knowing what you might be walking into, do you still want to do this?”
Sure, I could come face to face with the man I love having animalistic sex with the only Mapletown resident I hate, but what if he’s not? What if she’s taking out her revenge on himbecause he rejected her? I couldn’t live with myself if it’s the latter. “Yeah,” I tell her, choking up on the bat. “Let’s do it.”
Vyla goes in first, keeping her feet light the deeper we go into the house. It’s relatively quiet, apart from the occasional sound coming from somewhere upstairs. I poke Vyla in the arm and gesture up the stairs with the bat. She nods and puts a finger to her lips, reminding me to keep quiet.
As we ascend the stairs, I hear a soft, “Yoo-hoo, Dommy Dom,” from the bedroom on the left. The door is cracked. He’s in there. Withher. I run into Vyla’s back as I charge the rest of the way, and she picks up her pace to give me the room.
“What in the actual fuck is this?” Vyla demands after pushing the door open. It slams against the wall and rattles on its hinges.
I push my way around her, and I understand the tone of Vyla’s question. It’s not sex I’m looking at. Nic doesn’t appear to be hurt, either. There are no visible cuts or bruises.
But he is asleep. Out cold, in fact.
Gemma’s standing next to Nic’s lifeless form, and her expression is completely unbothered.
I decide in that moment to beat the face off her face.
“What the fuck have you done!” I shout, swinging the bat in the direction of her skull. I don’t get very far. Vyla’s big hands grip my biceps and yank me back.
Gemma, to her credit, doesn’t try to retaliate. If anything, she seems shocked by my rage. Then she takes a breath and rubs her eyes. “Okay, I may have given him a little too much of this sleep aid I got from the apothecary. I wanted him relaxed, not passed out.” I don’t know what she sees on mine and Vyla’s faces, but whatever it is makes her shoulders tremble. “This isn’t my fault, okay? I gave him the proper dosage, and it didn’t seem to work, so I gave him more.”
The bat falls from my hand and makes a loud clatter on the floor. “What did you give him?” I ask through gritted teeth. “And how much?”
