Page 46 of Zodiac Demons

Why did I bother?

“You sound like you’re on the verge of death.” I started to calm down, largely thanks to falling into rhythm with our annoying relationship, so I guess if that was his angle, it was working.

“Pretty sure I am, thanks to you.” His groan actually sounded fairly honest, and I wasn’t sure what that meant. “Get to the point. I have an appointment in five minutes that I can’t miss.”

“At the Succubus Den?” I was actually surprised he’d still be looking at other women despite being tied to Lila, but I suppose we all had to eat.

“The point, Marcus.” He was of similar short patience, and I could appreciate that.

“I couldn’t shift. Last night, I hit the Cancer trigger, and I couldn’t shift, and I’m starting to wonder if the reason we were both forced out of transformation every time we fucked her is because she’s doing more than just negating the moon.” I spat it all out in a way that wasn’t entirely coherent, but it was enough to elicit a new level of stunned silence.

“Slow down, what the hell are you talking about that you couldn’t shift?” The aggravation in his voice was pronounced and fair. “Dammit, I just got called in. I need to go.”

“I’m getting on the first ferry back. We can talk about this in person.”

“Please do.”

I hung up and shoved my phone in my pocket. I slid open the balcony door, just in time to see Lila walk into the room, fortunately alone, and fortunately well outside earshot of my conversation.

“Baby Doll, where have you been?” I asked, ever so nonchalantly, while I was quietly freaking the fuck out inside. There was no point in alerting her to this yet until I fully established what this even was. I didn’t want to alarm her, nor did I want to blame her for anything she might feel guilty about when her whole existence wasn’t her fault. I needed to get my head on straight first, because I wasn’t going to be the one to hurt her because I was having a moment.

“I had to help Ceto find his glasses. I guess it’s a big deal if he isn’t wearing them,” she said with a sheepish smile. “They were exactly where he left them, so no big deal. I handled it.”

“I’m glad he’s got you.” I spoke sweetly, despite my internal meltdown, and I thanked a lifetime of abuse and manipulation that taught me how to lie so convincingly. “Let’s get breakfast, then I think I need to head back. You can stay another day if you want, but I just had some urgent matters come up.”

“Family stuff?” She tilted her head to the side.

“Family stuff.” That was more or less accurate, so I went with it.

Lila nodded, then started getting dressed for the day, and I sank myself into the deepest exhale. I didn’t even know where to start on figuring this out, but what fun it would be to have to deal with this just in time for my birthday.

The devil is a fucking asshole.

The Lies of The Leo

Chapter 21

“This is quite the predicament,” The witch said, as she watched my blood dancing in some unexplained glowing solution in a glass cauldron. “Some Hybrids I’ve met have had very separate traits between their two bloodlines, but being the incubus is a sexual species and zodiac shifters are such emotionally charged ones, yours are tightly intermingled to the point that your zodiac traits are bleeding into your incubus traits, and your incubus is a slave to your Zodiac.”

Madam Claudine lived on the outside of the forest surrounding Graves. She was a matchmaker for many of the magical families who still used arranged marriage to keep their bloodlines pure, while she also dabbled in exercising curses and antidotes for poisons that were of the devil’s design. It had taken me weeks to get this appointment, and only thanks to a lucky cancellation in her schedule when one of her clients failed to show up for matchmaking. Despite the panic in Marcus’ voice, I was not missing it. Whatever he was talking about would be just as catastrophic in an hour.

Allegedly, she would somehow be able to help me with the Lila problem, but I’d have to admit I had my doubts. Though the Succubus spoke highly of her, none of them had my unique bloodlines, and hybrids were still wildly understudied.

“I’ve gathered as much.” I had settled on the brown couch in her small and homey cottage. Like most witches, she looked eternally in her twenties despite the fact that she had paintings of herself from hundreds to thousands of years ago on her walls, sporting fashion from the renaissance, the middle ages, ancient Egypt, and even hints of Mesopotamia. But other than her always evolving clothing and hair styles depicted in the paintings, she looked near identical to every other ancient witch I’d ever met. They always seemed to pick the same faces and the same cuts, bodies, and mannerisms, like a Hollywood starlet trying to fit in with the cookie-cutter representation of beauty, until they’d gotten so much plastic surgery they were barely distinguishable from their peers.

I was completely turned off by the lack of creativity or uniqueness in her magical design, to the point I couldn’t even see her as genuinely attractive despite her large breasts, plump lips, lithe body, and perfect symmetry. Lila struck a different chord for me. She wasn’t fit or confident or model-esque. She was thick and nerdy, with that raven black hair that complimented her pale complexion and those mesmerizing brown eyes—

Fuck, what was I even talking about? I wasn’t here to objectify or evaluate this woman based on her sexual desirability. That was so far irrelevant to the interaction that I felt disgusting just thinking it.

My power reserves must have truly hit a new low, as I was looking at anyone and everyone like they were on the menu, while my cock was acting like a starving man on the verge of death sending back a steak because it was entirely too juicy.

“And the virgin you slept with is also a shifter hybrid? Have you completed your pact?” Madam Claudine squeezed a few drops of some vague blue liquid from an eyedropper and watched the solution react. I couldn’t say if she was actually doing anything or if it was just for the show. Witches were also notorious performers who would waste their energy trying to razzle dazzle you so you thought their overpriced service was worth half a year’s salary. With what they charged for their magic, the embellishments were practically a requirement.

“Yes and no. She’s a Beta zodiac shifter, but the mark is one sided. It’s been enough to let me feed on her energy when she’s with others and keep me out of a total frenzy, but it’s starting to feel like trying to bail out a sinking ship with a teaspoon. I haven’t touched her in over three months, which… is the longest I’ve abstained from sex since puberty, but my monster has been knocking on my mind harder and louder than ever lately, and I’m losing my grip on its leash.“ Not to mention that I practically blacked out on my last leg day. I hadn’t had a decent lifting session all summer, and that was the one thing I looked forward to when I had time off.

“I see.” She talked like she was a therapist evaluating my trauma, and by the devil, I just wanted to hear there was an option that didn’t involve using Lila as a monthly sex toy.

The witch dropped some more droplets into the cauldron and the whole thing swirled and sparkled. She waved her hands around the glass, mixing the liquid with her magic, and I did not fucking care about the theatrics.