Page 23 of Zodiac Hybrids

“She was a twenty-two year old virgin. Something tells me she’s not the type to hop on every cock that presents itself to her.” He scoffed, though it was a bit endearing that he was accidentally admitting he thought their relationship was somehow special.

“Oh please. Don’t you remember how you felt after your first orgasm? The flood gates have been opened. You broke the seal. The can of worms has lost its top. A gorgeous, nerdy little minx like her will have you erased in a week.” My external eye roll may have been ignoring my internal recollection of the way she nearly rejected me earlier due to her lack of confidence.

“I’m half lust demon. She’s a human. It’s a little bit different.”

Human? That’s impossible. “I’m guessing you were so fixated on her pouty lips in your nine-o-clock Physics class that you somehow missed the mate scar on her neck?”

“What?” That stopped him in his tracks.

“I marked her so I could drop her off in her room the other night. Abandoning your prey in the middle of the cafeteria is poor form, on a side note.” I said with accusing side-eye. “But I’m… fairly certain a human can’t take a mate scar. She must be somewhere on the magic spectrum.” I suppose I’d never tried to mark a human, so I couldn’t say for sure, and only so much was known about hybrids considering harmonious coexistence among species was a fairly new phenomenon. But… still.

“She believes she’s human, so if she’s not, her parents were egregiously neglectful. Either that, or she’s been trained to mask her own heartbeat to the point that I can’t even pick up on her lies.”

Who’d have imagined that an incubus’ ability to read emotions could be used for a living lie detector and not just to get laid. My half-brother was so noble with his gifts. “You do have a few useful skills, I suppose.” I pursed my lips, now utterly confused.

“Don’t you have any?” Seriously, he is the rudest. “You tasted her blood. You should be telling me what she is.”

I raised a brow. “I can’t say for sure, but she didn’t taste like any human I’d ever drained. A Virgo shifter is the only creature I can think of who would be so mundane that they could somehow traipse about outside on a full moon night and not know they’re a shifter at all. But I was able to mark her, so she couldn’t be an Alpha if so. A Beta Virgo? Maybe an Omega?”

“Did she taste like a shifter?” He prodded, ignoring my assessment.

“No.” I shook my head. “But I’d never tasted anything like her, so I don’t have any better guesses. Vampires can’t form a mate pact, so she isn’t a vampire, and she didn’t taste like you either.” I may or may not have bared my fangs at him a few times growing up. Even at eight years my senior, we still fought frequently enough. “If I were to wager a guess, I’d bet she’s also some sort of hybrid. I just haven’t sampled enough to place the exact flavor.”

“So she’s something special, but even if we tortured her, she wouldn’t be able to tell us who or what.” Straight to torture? My, my maybe Adrian and I did have a few things in common. He stroked the stubble on his jawline as he pondered the predicament. My genes didn’t include anything that could grow facial hair, despite being half Leo, but I certainly wasn’t jealous. “Why don’t I see a reciprocal mark on you?” My dear half-brother noticed next, much to my irritation.

With a dismissive wave, I addressed the part I didn’t want to talk about. “It wasn’t a mutual pact, but she hasn’t rejected me yet either.”

“So you don’t actually have a claim on her.” His eyes narrowed. I could see those wheels spinning in his head, and I didn’t much care for them.

“Don’t get any ideas.” I scoffed. “She told me you banned her from your classes, so you shouldn’t care if I claim her anyway. If anything, it’ll save you from whatever nonsense virgin appetite you’ve developed if she’s magically tied to me. Besides, she tastes quite wonderful, and I think I want her.”

“I banned her because otherwise I might kill her.” It was Adrian’s turn to roll his eyes. It was so nice when we could be civil in the same room together. “But if she’s going to continue to live on campus in easy flight distance, and she’s got enough magic blood to take on a mate scar, then taking her as my mate would likely be the safest course of action to protect her from me going forward. A mated incubus has more control than a free one, and my scent would ward off any other would be predators on campus. If I’d realized that was an option earlier, I would have bitten her myself.”

“Oh?” This son of a bitch. “So you think you can override my mark?” A low chuckle escaped my throat, and I stared him down with perfect mischief. “That sounds like a challenge, Adrian.”

“A challenge?” He shook his head, while a sly and condescending smile graced his lips. There’s the Adrian I know. I enjoyed his aggressive and vicious side much more than his socially acceptable one. He tried much too hard to cling to the latter. “I promise it won’t be.”

“Interesting.” I took a step back towards the door. I had to head out soon to make it in time for my date with our little target. “Then let’s call it a game, big brother.” I emphasized the title for the sake of his annoyance.

“You’ve never in your life won against me. I don’t suspect you’ll be starting now.” He scoffed, though I could sense the playfulness beneath his words. “Besides, I’m not looking to actually court her. I’d just mark her to help with my own self-control, then teach her how to reject it once she’s out of my class.”

And to that, I laughed. He really thought it would be that easy.

Though I loved seeing him all fired up. He hated me so much more than I hated him, and I’d never seen him actively pursue anyone. Something about our parents’ relationships seemed to have scared him away from commitment for his entire adult life. If my little trap had finally opened him to wanting a relationship, then I had no regrets. He might pretend he’d be trying to mate with her to protect her, and that he would stay away once she was safely bonded to him, but I had a feeling there was something about Lila that wouldn’t let anyone court her casually. This was all turning out better than I’d ever imagined.

I cocked my chin back before I stepped out of his view, and I gave him one last teasing smirk. “Stay strong then, Dr. Karras.”

Chapter 12

I had nothing at all to wear that was remotely date appropriate and it showed. It was a bad sign when a school uniform was the cutest thing in my closet. The only dresses I had were for the summer, and while the winter was mild here, it was still way too cold for thin, sunshiny cotton.

So instead, I dug out my thickest leggings and an oversized sweatshirt, then I stole the belt off one of my dresses to cinch it at the waist. I modeled for myself in the mirror, not entirely unsatisfied with the silhouette, then I put in some contacts and dug out my cheap curling iron to attempt to make something that resembled waves in my otherwise straight hair. I just hoped Marcus would still think I was pretty when he saw me without an inappropriately short skirt and a flirty blouse.

I didn’t know what he’d seen in me in the first place, but for some reason, he was making an active effort to get to know me, and I needed to make myself trust that he meant it.

We’re not self-sabotaging anymore, I told myself with resolve.

A loud knock on my dorm room door had me jumping out of my skin, and I nearly tripped over my own feet as I scrambled to answer in a timely manner.