Page 5 of Bite Me

Pure demon was what he was. No emotion, no compunction about killing innocent humans he lured to their deaths.

Taking more lives would kill her, but so would not taking them. At least if she left, she could make the choice of who and when and maybe how much.

If she couldn’t leave, there was one last life she could take and end it all.

Being half human had to have some advantage.

Guilt clawed at her for leaving the guy to the mercy of Leon and her brothers and sisters. She would regret not getting away from the coven even more so.

She’d gotten as far as the kitchen door. Now, all she had to do was walk through it and out of this way of life. But, she was afraid. Without a coven, without Leon she would have no one. A succubus on her own was a dead succubus.

Dead inside or dead.

She took one step.

“I’m talking to you.”

She didn’t care or she didn’t want to Not anymore.

“You walk away from me, and I won’t be able to protect you.” Leon’s voice was somewhere in between pissed and concerned.

She kept going into the hallway, and up the stairs. Leon followed her all the way to her bedroom door. She tried to slam it in his face, but he caught it.

“I don’t need your protection. I’m a big girl vampire now.” She said the taunt in her best snotty little kid voice. Leon loved to play into the façade humans had invented to explain their kind.

“You have no idea, Jada.”

Nice threat. She folded her arms and rolled her eyes at him. He always hated that. She was the only one of his offspring who wasn’t in awe of him, who didn’t think he hung the moon. It was one of the only things she still liked about herself.

He grinned, the evil inside making him look more creepy than happy. “You’re being hunted.”

Haunted was more like it. She tapped her foot. The more she annoyed him, the sooner he’d leave her alone.

“Demon dragons have attacked our coven a dozen times over the past few months, and we’ve kept you in the dark about it, and thus safe.”

Demon dragons. After her. “What are you talking about?”

Demons didn’t attack each other. Each faction was focused on what they needed from humans. They had enemies of their own to worry about. Hunters tried to destroy the children of Lilith and dragons warriors kept the Black Dragon’s plague at bay.

Leon studied her face and pushed at her consciousness to see if her reaction to his news was genuine. “What is bringing this resurgence in your reluctance to connect with the coven?”

Jada shifted from one foot to the other. This was an old fight between the two of them. Leon never got why she wasn’t like the others.

He narrowed his eyes. “I sent Portia to the continent to keep her from telling you about the demon dragons. May she finally learn her lesson about being loyal to coven and not the individual.”

Jada wished she had that same ability to know when someone wasn’t telling her the truth. She’d inherited a lot of Leon’s abilities, but that wasn’t one of them. She’d have to guess. “You’re lying to keep me here.”

“I’m not. Ask your sister when she returns. She’s fought off more of the beasts than anyone else. Leave this house and risk your life.”

Jada’s life wasn’t worth much anyway. Maybe death by demon dragon was the way to go. Her only regret was leaving Portia behind. She was the only other person in the coven who ever understood.

Hopefully, her sister would understand her decision to leave too.

“I think I will.”

Leon shrugged. “Fine. I’ll be here when you need to come crying back to daddy.”

Ew.

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