Page 103 of Tangled Fates

“What’s a succubus, is that like an incubus?”

She looked up at me with her big hazel eyes. Her expression was innocent, looking every bit the sheltered woman she was.

“Yeah, it’s a female incubus,” Soren said, kissing her head. “After what just happened, I think we need to leave.”

“I agree,” I said, seeing Ryder looking out the window. “I think we need to go back home, regroup there.”

“We might not be safe there,” Ryder said, studying Oria.

“Then we grab what we can and take her to a safe house until we know what we can do or come up with a plan,” Soren said. “But we need to get out of here just in case Cora decides to betray us.”

“We leave in ten minutes,” Ryder said, grabbing his bag and taking a shirt out.

I looked down to see Oria taking him in. A tendril of arousal came through the bond.

“Come on Sunshine, let's grab our stuff and look for Catzilla,” I said, grabbing her hand as the cat walked into the room like he had been summoned.

“Come on, Loki, let’s go get our things,” Sunshine said, picking him up and walking out with Soren.

“You ok, man?” I knew being under a succubus’ spell felt like an invasion of privacy.

“I’ll be better when we get the fuck out of here,” he said, not looking at me.

“Yeah, me too,” I said, walking out the door, glancing back to make sure he was ok.

Ryder’s face was stoic as he looked out the window. He looked like a man with the weight of the world on his shoulders. My heart ached for my friend, but I had no idea of how to help him.

After we packed up everything, we used our last vial to create a portal to our home. The moment we landed, I took a deep breath. I didn’t know how long it had been since we had been home, and god I had missed it.

“It’s beautiful here,” Oria said, taking in everything.

“Wait till you see the house.” Soren grabbed her hand, leading her to our home.

She kept looking around and her happiness was contagious. I knew the road ahead of us was dangerous, but to see her so happy, it was going to be worth it.

Ryder and I walked in silence to our home. The tension was radiating off him as we walked in the field with the afternoon sun beating down on us. Spring was in full effect and the forest around us was beautiful. As we got closer to the house, Soren and Oria were standing in front, but she was behind him when panic hit our bond like a lightning bolt.

I ran to them when I noticed the door was open.

“Shit,” Ryder murmured walking past them. “Stay here and use that charm again.”

He nodded at Oria. She didn’t waste any time making herself invisible when I followed Ryder inside our home. The moment I walked in it smelled like witches. I tensed, wondering if it could possibly have been her mother and if she knew we had taken her.

I ran through the house twice, seeing no one inside. The house was destroyed and most of our things had been taken like our gold and some artifacts we had lying around.

“This had to have been recent,” Ryder said, standing next to me in front of our office. “I came here before I went back for you guys.”

“Were they looking for us or looking for loot?”

“It looks like loot, but I have a feeling that might not be the case,” he sighed.

Coast clear?

Soren asked through our bond. It seemed my new bond with Sunshine bridged the gap between us.

Yeah. We are in the office.

“We need to get any supplies we might need and get out of here,” I said, walking over trash scattered all over the floor. “If they were really looking for something specific, let's see if they knew about the vault.”

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