Page 52 of Infernal Hearts

“Nope. Used to be as human as you are, but my life was awful. Grew up a runt in a litter in the poorest family in the poorest town in East Texas. My parents were Bible thumpers and incredibly conservative, and that’s saying a lot for the time period. They found out I was hooking up with a boy in school, and they beat me senseless—said I was a disgrace to the family and that I was better off dead. I ran away that night.”

A pang shoots through my heart, and my arms go numb. “Holy shit, I’m so sorry.”

“It was a different time then. Not saying that kind of shit doesn’t still happen, but it’s way less common.” Levi shrugs it off like it’s no big deal. His tense face and pained eyes say otherwise, though.

My chest aches for him. My parents were fully accepting when I came out—they literally thanked me and went back to eating family dinner. My mom even bought her and my dad PFLAG pins and took me to my first Denver Pride. It’s the small things they always did for me that were the most significant, and it makes me miss them even more.

But Levi? No wonder he chose to become a demon after that. He left his parents and never looked back, becoming rich and powerful and being with anyone he chose.

Heartbeat thumping, I’m not sure I want to know what he means by adifferent time, but I just have to know. “So how old are you, then?”

“If you really have to know, I was born October 24th, 1900. You stop counting after a while.”

I blow out a breath and ignore the fact that I might be starting a situationship with someone who could be my great-grandfather. I really need to not think of that because it’ll never not be gross.

I push the obvious thought out of my head and go for the next biggest nugget. “I didn’t know you could become a demon. I thought they were born. That’s at least what my dad taught me growing up.”

He nonchalantly pulls out his phone and checks his weather app. “They can be. But I was human, made an incubus from a deal. I wanted more than just riches. I wanted a long life. Power.”

“Sounds a little selfish.”

He lets out a single chuckle. “Oh, it was. I won’t lie about that. But the things I had to do to get to it…I haven’t always been proud of.” Suddenly, his voice is flat and monotone, and the features of his face are downturned.

Still, I can’t help my curiosity. “Like what?”

He shifts uncomfortably and puts his phone in his pocket. “Not all deals are as benevolent as the one I made with you. My Maker had me give people things they never should have had. I grew to resent him.”

I bite my lip, an uneasy feeling growing in my chest. “What kind of deals?”

He takes a deep breath, looking down at his feet and softly shaking his head. “I’ve helped bad people over the years. Cartels. Murderers. I’ve given bad people more power than they ever should have had, and I’m not proud of it. And if they broke the deal? I’m sorry. I don’t want to tell you too much because I’m worried about what you might think of me.”

“Then why didn’t you leave?” I would have been out of there in no time.

He gazes out into the night. “I would’ve had my power taken away. Lost everything. It’s never been easy being gay, even less so in that time or place. But my Maker protected me and gave me a life where I could be myself, within his decision. It was just never with anyone I chose.”

My eyebrows draw together, a sharp pain in my chest and a tightness in my throat. It’s a horrible situation he was in for God knows how long. I can’t imagine what he’s done just for the sake of someone else. “Sounds like he made you do all the dirty work.”

“For the first few decades, sure. But then I started calling the shots and writing contracts that gave him a cut. Eventually I moved away, and he left me alone for the most part.”

Whatever shitty situation he was in, at least he got away. “And where is he now?”

“Dead.”

My head jerks toward him, and my mouth falls open. “So you’re free? No more dirty work?”

He purses his lips and lets out a deep breath. “I have one last thing to do. Find my brother, Dane. It was his dying wish. Then my contract is finished, and I’m completely able to make my own choices and not follow anyone else’s bidding. And not die in the process.”

I feel like I’m missing something here. “But how can you be so indebted to a dead man?”

An edge clings onto his voice. “Commands and deals can reach beyond the grave. Trust me.”

“There’s more to it than that, isn’t there?”

“I know enough to get by, but there’s so much my Maker didn’t teach me. I need Dane’s help. Dane is five hundred years older than I am. He knows more about being an incubus than anyone I could ever find. As far as I know, we’re the last two. We’re a dying breed.”

“Why not make more, then? It doesn’t sound all bad.”

He shakes his head slowly and wrings his hands. “Longevity? Mind control? Magic? Sure, except for one problem. I don’t know how. Magnus never taught me how to make another incubus. It was his most guarded secret.”

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