Page 67 of The Incubus Curse

He was gorgeous by all means, but I knew that to be deadly for their kind. And I was most definitely reserved, especially not knowing who he was or why I was brought here. But I had my suspicions. And if I had to guess, he was who Daemon had spoken of.

The fallen angel named Azrael.

“How do you know my name?” I sat upright as my back pressed against the headboard.

The door closed once he was fully inside, and my throat bobbed with nerves, swallowing my saliva in fear of breathing.

“I should have known your mother would name you that. It always was a name she admired.” He smiled, and I knew not to let those warm feelings fill my heart. I knew this was how they used their charms to sway and manipulate. But I couldn’t ignore the fact that he had mentioned my mother. A woman who had died when I was only a few years old. I hardly even knew her or anything about her.

So, hearing that was unexpected.

“You knew my mother?” I fought back a tear that wanted to escape down my cheek.

Was this what all this was? Was she the cause of my entire world turning upside down?

“Your mother was one of the most beautiful angels I had ever seen.” He looked down at his hand, twirling a single gold ring. And as it spun, letters appeared. Letters so small that I couldn’t decipher them from this distance, and I wasn’t going to inch closer to find out what they said.

“She was my love, you know. Since the beginning of time.” He didn’t look at me but continued to look at his ring. His thumb rubbed over it as the words faded. “And then she met your father. And had you, it would seem. You’re the spitting image of her, you know. When I stumbled across you randomly in the streets of New York, I almost thought it was your mother haunting me.”

“That’s not true. Your love was Raminia. Not my mother. Her name was Sarah.” I snapped back.

He only laughed. “So, I see someone has been filling your head with stories about me. But I assure you, whatever human name she gave herself is beside the point. Your mother’s realfirst name was Raminia.”

I blinked, trying to take in the idea that this person I had only just learned about from Daemon was my mother—this Raminia. And even though it felt hard to believe, it wouldn’t have been the most absurd thing to hear after everything I had been through. In fact, it almost strangely made sense.

“You even have her eyes.” He reached forward, fingers touching my cheek as his eyes deeply looked into mine, searching for.. well -I don’t know. And that was the most unnerving part of this all.

“Do I really?” It was hard not to sink into my emotions. Not just because of the mention of my mother but because it was hard to imagine what she might have looked like. Our house burned down, so I didn’t have any pictures or mementos to remember her by. All I had was the toy bear left with me when I was dropped off at the orphanage.

He smiled charmingly. “Very much so.” His right hand lifted, tucking a stray strand of hair from my face over my ear just as Dustin always did, and it stirred something in my belly uneasily at the thought.

“And her hair was just like this. A constant curled mess.” His smile felt contagious, bleeding into me as my smile curled along my lips, which his eyes seemed to hang onto desperately. Uncomfortably so. “You truly are just as pure and beautiful, even with your diluted human blood.” He dropped his hand, and for a split second, I almost felt a shift in him.

Anger flooded me as if I could feel what he was feeling. As if I was connected, or maybe he was unintentionally pushing those feelings on me, if that was even possible?

Honestly, I wasn’t sure what all was in the realm of possibilities with this world.

“Why am I here?” I pulled back slightly, my back pressing into the backboard once more.

He seemed shocked by my hesitation toward him. “Ah, I see you are more angel than not. That is going to be good for your odds.”

“My odds? Why am I here?” I asked again, this time more sternly as my voice deepened. My eyes didn’t waiver from their eerily still look at him.

He just smiled, unnervingly so. “I’m throwing a ball of sorts, like the kind I used to revel in once upon a time. I’d like you to join me.”

I blinked. “A ball? You’ve kidnapped me and killed people to get to me, all so that you can take me to a ball?”

“Kidnapped is a harsh word. And honestly, in this world, you didn’t have much of a life to kidnap. Those vampires would have drunk you dry if they weren’t scared of me. If it wasn’t blatantly obvious that I wanted you.” He reached forward, letting his hand lift a few locks that dangled along my collarbone, revealing the fang marks I had forgotten. The dried blood remnants stung my neck slightly at the realization.

“If I were there, I wouldn’t have let them touch you.” He growled, a tinge of anger sweeping across his face once more at the sight of my neck. “But the cockroach has already been… handled.”

“But why? Why do you want me?”

“All in good time.” He sat up from the bed, knocking at the door as if waiting for someone to unlock it from the other side. “Now, I’ve gotten you new clothes. Ones that aren’t dirty and well-” His eyes looked me up and down. “Hideously a mess. I was shocked to see that this was even considered clothing. Times really have changed.”

The door swung open slowly, and a tall man dressed in all black with glowing red eyes peered into the room with a single bag hanging on a hook between his fingers. He looked ill, like he was dragging his feet with every demand, and I realized that he might have been charmed as Daemon had warned about.

“And if I don’t wear it?” I taunted, still uneasy by the idea that I was continuously being tossed around like a sack of potatoes to be shared with every supernatural that I had seemingly come into contact with.

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