Page 21 of The Incubus Curse

I didn’t know many people with pale-colored eyes and vibrantly silvered blonde hair unless they were possibly of Danish descent.

Each painting seemed to blur into the next, making it hard to count. Several portraits resembled Dustin himself, but they were dated between 1920 and 1950. That seemed absurd, given he was only in his late twenties, I think.

Ahead, a woman with striking green eyes and white hair came into view. Her serpent-like eyes darted around, focusing on us more than I was comfortable with. A chill ran up my spine as she walked by, mirroring the frigid welcome she had given me. Her eyes shot daggers that matched the coldness in the air. I raised a brow at the hostility I felt from her, and as soon as I did, she stopped. Those green eyes glared at me as if she was trying to show dominance.

“Drop dead.” She smiled, which turned dark as a grimace slid across her face. As if she was disappointed that I didn’t just combust onto the ground.

She brushed past quickly, forcefully nudging her shoulder into mine, and I stumbled backward, only to be caught byOliver. His hands gripped my shoulders, steadying me, and his quiet laughter filled my ears. I had almost forgotten he was behind me for a moment as Dustin continued pulling me forward.

“Welcome home, Dustin,” she murmured with a fake smile from behind us. Her long white hair billowed like a model on a runway, and her legs seemed to stretch endlessly. “I’m in my usual room, should you want to stop by.”

Dustin cleared his throat awkwardly, a hunger returning to his eyes as he almost struggled to look away from her provocative display.

Oliver, reaching forward past me, gently placed his hand on Dustin’s shoulder as if to steady him. We continued down what felt like a never-ending hallway, completely dismissing the girl from then on. However, I turned back and watched as Sasha lingered, batting her lashes at the girl.

I couldn’t deny a sense of satisfaction when I witnessed Dustin brushing off the girl. However, as we passed through door after door and encountered various guests, I observed both girls and, strangely enough, even men fawning over not just Dustin but all three of them. People practically begged for their attention, and these were by no means unattractive individuals; they all resembled models. It made me ponder the true nature of this place.

Was it some haven for exceptionally attractive people, a hotel for the beautiful elite?

I remembered the reaction the Ellisaro’s had caused from people at work. While I knew I wasn’t a threat to anyone, I wondered if anyone else would think differently after seeing me walk in with them hovering over me like my own personal bodyguards. Would the girls at work treat me more like apariah than I already felt if they could see me now?

When I looked back again, I saw Sasha disappear into a room. Her eyes made one final glance at me as her tongue licked up the neck of a random girl. Or rather, I think it might have been two girls. I turned away from her, feeling uncomfortable, and my eyes landed on Oliver, who looked almost pained as he resisted the people around us. As if he wanted to split off like Sasha had.

“Canyouat least tell me what’s going on?” I asked Oliver as Dustin dragged me by my wrist, determined to find something. Oliver followed tightly behind me like some security guard unit. I couldn’t discern if he was more concerned that I might run or if these people were going to eat me alive the way they glared at me for taking the Ellisario boys from them.

“I mean, what is this place? Who was that girl with the green eyes? Who are these people? This all feels… strange. Like a cult,” I pressed on, flicking my eyes back to where we came from. The men and women giggled, retreating into their rooms. The girl with the green eyes stood eerily, arms crossed, watching us as we walked away. Her brow lifted in scrutiny like a hawk eyeing a defenseless rabbit before sinking its claws.

Were those the kind of people Dustin went for? I tried dismissing the thought because it was ridiculous, and I didn’t want to care.

Oliver stood there momentarily, seemingly unprepared to explain this to me. Yet, to his surprise, he offered a gruff answer.

“She’s… uh.” He looked back down at me. “She’s one of us.”

I raised a brow. “And what exactly does that mean?” Is this how all rich people talk about each other? If so, I have never felt so low tier in my life.

“A succubus, or half-breed anyways.”

My blood chilled. I had heard of those things before, but I wasn’t knowledgeable about them by any means. Vaguely, I assumed they were some vampire-demonic-type entity from a fantasy novel I had read once, but that was fiction. This was real life.

“A succubus?” I asked nervously, already knowing the answer probably wouldn’t change. He didn’t seem like the kind of guy to make a joke; if it was a joke, he needed to work on his delivery.

Oliver looked at me strangely. “You know what that is?” His lips pursed as his head tilted with intrigue, a few of his perfect locks of hair falling over his eyes. It felt difficult not to look deeply into those Milky Way eyes of his. Constellations were put to shame by the glimmer in his eyes alone.

I shook my head slowly. “This is all so crazy. I don’t know what I’m doing here… Is this some joke?”

Even as all sense of reasoning was tossed out the window at the sight of that creature in the office, I desperately clung to it. I had to. Otherwise, I wasn’t sure how to process all of this.

The run-down building transforming on the inside, the monstrous deathwalker that had tried to kill me—what was next? The end of the world?

The look in Dustin’s eyes seemed darker now that I knew he could be this demonic thing I had only ever read about.

Oliver’s eyes changed, shifting from me to the hallway where Dustin led. They seemed to dilate, fixating on something ahead, narrowing in on something I couldn’t see, especially with Dustin’s broad shoulders boxing me in, even as I tried to stand on my tiptoes.

“Dustin,” Oliver said firmly, stepping in with arms wideas if to shield me from something. “Let’s avoid them with Freya here. I’ll go talk to them.” He whispered, and as Dustin stopped, my head collided with his back abruptly.

I had hoped to catch a glimpse of whoever they were talking about, mostly out of curiosity, to see if it was another Barbie doll. However, before I knew it, I was pulled into a room with Dustin as Oliver continued down the hallway without us.

Dustin yanked my wrist, practically pulling me into his chest as we stumbled into the room. For a brief- very brief- moment, I felt the hardness of his chest against the palms of my hands, and my breath got tangled in my throat.

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