Page 46 of Sugar, Spice, and Magical Midlife

“Last door down on the left.” She pointed to a warped, spiral stairway that looked on the verge of collapsing. “It’s unoccupied and reserved for families, so you should have some privacy.”

“Thanks?” I took the keys, unable to keep the question from my voice. Then I grabbed my son’s hand and led him upstairs.

I nearly tripped over my own feet when I saw rows of missing striga posters plastered all over the walls, and most of them were satyrs.

A trill of dread raced up my spine as I thought of the satyrs staying with the succubi, and I prayed that the salami didn’t taste like goat.

Chapter Ten

My migraine was gone, and the fog in my head had cleared, which meant one thing: It had been the work of the succubi. Damn. How had I not realized before what they were? But I knew why. The headache was a result of the disorientation spell. And that disorientation was probably why I didn’t notice if Antonio had red in his eyes. Those sons of sirens. If I hadn’t had Des with me, I would’ve blasted them all to hell. I wondered if they had been the same succubi who’d framed Ric and killed my parents. The thought filled my heart with dread and my soul with rage.

I took a hasty shower with one eye open and my lipstick wand at the ready. I couldn’t have been gone more than ten minutes, yet when I returned, my suitcase was upside down on the floor, all the contents spilled out of it.

I nudged Ethyl’s hand draped over the side of the bed. “Who went through my suitcase?”

She rolled onto her side, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. “Not I.”

I spun around at the sound of a demonic giggle and sucked in a curse when four pairs of little eyes blinked at me before disappearing in a crack in the wall. Gnomes!

I heaved my suitcase to the bed and rearranged my things, trying to figure out what exactly the gnomes had stolen, for I was sure they’d taken something. “Just great.” I couldn’t find my most comfortable wireless bra. “My spare bra is gone! I only packed one!”

Ethyl rolled onto her other side with a groan. “Just wash your other bra.”

I shook my head. “And risk them stealing that one, too?” No way in hades was I taking off my only bra. Stupid, stinking gnomes. I would’ve cursed them with siren scabies, except they were little and cute, and as much as I wanted vengeance, I also didn’t want the gnomes to retaliate and steal more of my stuff. Then I remembered the sound of something falling behind the bed when I’d packed in haste at the succubi house. I counted my underthings, realizing everything was accounted for except for that bra.

“Damn!”

“What is it?” Ethyl asked.

“I think I dropped my bra at the succubi house.” I threw my hands in the air in frustration. “So now the succubi have my favorite bra, which means I’ll never get it back. Can my day get any worse?”

“Yeah,” Ethyl said as she visibly shivered while wrapping her wings around herself. “Our faces could end up on missing striga posters like those poor satyrs.”

I shuddered, feeling as if spiders were crawling up my spine as we locked gazes. “You saw those, too?”

She nodded. “And considering succubi love eating goat, I can only imagine what happened to the satyrs that were staying with us.”

I wondered how she knew they liked goat. I didn’t remember learning about that in my demonology courses. But I feared she was right. Bile projected into my throat when I remembered all those hanging salamis. Maybe I should finish reading that boring book on succubi.

After muttering several curses under my breath, I climbed into bed with Des. Yes, I knew my son was old enough to sleep by himself, but Ethyl had already started snoring again.

Facing Des’s back, I snuggled against a pillow, wishing he was little enough for me to hold in my arms. After our near brush with murderous succubi, I wanted to hold my son close. I still clutched my lipstick wand, and I’d probably never let it go.

Des rolled onto his other side, facing me with alert, luminous eyes. “Mama, I want to go home.”

I brushed a strand of dark hair out of his eyes. “I know you do, sweetie. You’ve had a lot of changes today.”

He tucked his hands beneath his cheek. “I don’t like it here.”

I rubbed his arm, pleased when he didn’t pull away. “I don’t, either, but we can’t go home until we stop the bad demon.”

He blinked at me, ruminating on my words. “How?”

“I don’t know how yet, but I’ll figure something out. Thank you for being such a brave boy.” My throat suddenly tightened as an avalanche of emotions threatened to bury me. If we hadn’t left in time... “I love you so, so much.”

His smile was a like an endorphin injection straight to my heart. “I love you, Mama.”

Then he rolled back onto his other side, and I rubbed his back until he fell asleep. I’d no idea how I’d be able to sleep tonight after all that had transpired over the past few days. I feared that Ric’s imprisonment was only the start of our problems, that these demons wouldn’t stop until they had us in their clutches. Then what?

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