Page 28 of Nightmares and Numerology

I kept waiting for it to hurt. For my skin to begin to peel and blister. Burns were some of the worst injuries, in my book, devastating in both a physical and magical sense. Fire purified and could kill just about anything if you stoked it hot enough. But the pain I braced for never came, and when I examined my hand more closely, I realized why.

There was a definite burgundy cast to my skin that hadn’t been there a few hours ago. It wasn’t as obvious as Angelo’s true form. It looked like it had fused with the paleness of my human self to create a sun-kissed shade any celebrity would envy. My skin looked smoother, and lines of gold ran beneath my skin where the maps of veins should have been present.

“Oh my god,” I whispered, staring down at myself. “What... what is this?”

“Demonic transference,” Indigo said with a sigh. “Damn it...”

“What do you mean, damn it!” I shot back. “You have to give me more than a cryptic remark, Indie! I swear to God I will reach into my own cranium and strangle you like a weed if you don’t start giving me answers!”

Indigo’s laugh stopped my tirade short. It sounded bitter enough to choke on. “This reaction only happens in a fraction of a percentage of us who take on demonic attributes. They’re usually the baseline extension package that Murrain offers.”

“In stupid people speak, please.”

“It makes you nearly impossible to kill, but it’s not meant to mingle with other types of demonic magic past a certainlevel. I think sleeping with Angelo seized on the energy you took from him and mingled it with the Koloth demon’s, making it more powerful than the other attributes I acquired. Some of the genetic markers seep through. You see how your skin looks?”

I looked at it again. “Yeah.”

“That’s what it would look like if you were half-succubus, half-koloth. I imagine the rest of you has changed dramatically as well.”

I was on my feet and staggering for the bathroom before I could stop myself. The bathroom in my loft was nearly as narrow as the staircase, a glorified closet with a toilet and a shower. I felt like a bull in a china shop when I tripped into the room, clutching the towel rack for stability.

What I saw in the mirror above the sink stopped me dead.

It had been jarring enough to wake up a few days after Indigo’s death to find I’d undergone a spontaneous dye job. My hair wasn’t just black now; it was as lustrous as a cat’s, shining with dark highlights when I moved. The strands swayed without any breeze to actually stir them. The ends of my hair had lightened to the color of a sullen ember, pulsing with light at odd moments.

“Fire,” Indigo said with a sigh. “Koloths live in a similar infernal level to the Reeper demons. Congratulations, you’re pretty much immune to fire now. Unfortunately, most things in the mundane world aren’t though, so you’re going to have to be careful not to set anything ablaze.”

If Indigo had been in front of me at that moment, I would have decked her. It wasn’t enough she’d burst into my life and plastered herself to my soul. It wasn’t enough that I’d accidentally become party to the evil scheme she’d participated in. Now her evil deed had transfigured me. I barely recognized myself in the mirror. I mean, demon Lydia was good-looking. The luminous skin, huge eyes, pouting lips, and burgundy colormight do it for a lot of mortal men. I just needed a rounder ass and a tail to entice a certain section of the population. But when I looked in the mirror, the alluring woman I saw wasn’t me. It seemed fundamentally wrong that sex should have given me an instant makeover.

“This is so not okay.”

“Fine,” Indigo said sharply. “Freak out. Try to pick it all apart and tell yourself it was a bad idea. I’m sure it will go over swimmingly with your lover.”

I didn’t think she’d earned the pissy tone she was using, but she was right about one thing. Would I have had sex with Angelo, even if she’d mentioned the remote possibility of this happening?

Yes, I would have. Because I needed it and because he needed it. Because it had been beautiful, and thrilling, and perfect and I...

I caught myself before I could whisper the truth to myself, but Indigo had heard it.

I loved Angelo.

“It’s a bad idea.”

Loving a sex demon sounded like an oxymoron. Emphasis on the moron part.

“I am so screwed,” I whispered to my sober reflection.

“And not even in the fun way,”Indigo chimed in.

“Yes, thanks so much for that.”

“Anytime, Lydia. Anytime.”

Chapter Thirteen

Angelo

“You’re being ridiculous,” I muttered, rushing down the pavement that stood between us and answers.

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