Chapter 3

Three

Adrian

She’s fucking beautiful.

Even with her face turning red from screaming her head off. I hear Draxos growl at my side and put my hand on his arm, knowing it will calm him down. I don’t even have to use my powers for it, but I let them wash over the room anyway just to give her a moment’s peace.

“It’s okay,” I soothe. She has tears running down her cheeks, and I feel like a complete ass. “I promise we won’t hurt you.”

“But you’re de…demons.” She might have stopped screaming but her body is still shaking at a high velocity. I wish we could have done this another way, but we’ve been stuck here without our families for eleven years. I want to go home more than anything.

“We are.” I step toward her, and she takes a step back. Her eyes search the room quickly, and then she takes off.

With a sigh, Draxos disappears from behind me and appears in front of her to block her path. She screams so loud that I wince, and Draxos grinds his teeth. “If you calm down for one minute, I’ll explain everything.”

“My dad was right,” she responds, her breathing reaching dangerous levels. Even my skill isn’t working on her right now. “I thought he was insane, but he’s right. The world isn’t safe.”

“It’s not,” Draxos replies.

“Draxos,” I hiss, slowly walking up behind her. “That’s not helping.”

“We don’t have time for this,” he argues. “I do not have time for hysterics.”

“Hysterics?” Calista says, her voice dropping. “You just kidnapped me from my damn apartment, and you don’t have time for the hysterics?” Oh . Calista has some fight in her. I like it. “I’m leaving.”

Calista spins on her heel, only to run into my chest. Her eyes snap up to mine, and she swallows hard, all the anger draining from her. “I can’t let you do that,” I say regretfully. “Please. Let’s sit down and have a conversation.” I watch Calista go over every option, finally coming to the conclusion that she doesn’t have any. With a sharp nod, she follows me into the living room. I sweep my arm out for her to find a seat, and she sits in the chair, pulling her legs up to her chest and wrapping her arms around them. Draxos and I sit on the couch side by side, and I lay my hand on his thigh to try to keep him from scaring her off.

“Just start talking,” she demands.

“We need your help,” Draxos admits through gritted teeth. “I need you to listen to everything that I’m about to say before you ask a million questions and ultimately decide that I’m lying. I have proof, but I need to explain first.”

“Okay,” Calista whispers. I want to comfort her, but I know that’s not what she wants. Instead, I try to smile reassuringly and try not to flinch when her eyes zero in on my fangs, and she shudders. This time it’s not out of arousal, it’s fear.

“Eleven years ago, we were locked out of the Underworld, our home, because of a prophecy. Not only that, the ones who weren’t top side, were locked down there, trapping us away from our families. The witch who cast the spell also doomed us to keep our true forms. These aren’t costumes. Everything you see is real. We need you to break the curse.”

“How the hell am I supposed to do that?” she asks, some fight coming into her again. “I’m a sheltered twenty-one year old, who just moved out of her dad’s. And there’s no such thing as demons or witches. I don’t know what kind of game you’re playing, but you need to let me leave, or I’m calling the cops.”

Draxos lets his shadows slowly creep out and lets them flow toward her. She gasps when he runs the tip of one down her calf. “Explain that.”

“It’s…it’s a trick. Did Chloe put you up to this?”

“I don’t know what a “Chloe” is, but no,” Draxos answers, letting his shadows float around her. “You don’t seem like a dumb woman, Calista. Don’t make this any harder than it needs to be.”

Calista is leaned back in the chair to escape the shadows, but Draxos keeps pushing. I look over at him and notice that his eyes are starting to turn red, but not from anger. I open my mouth to ask what the hell is going on when it hits me. She’s turned on by this, but trying to mask it. Draxos caresses her arms softly, and she can’t stop the moan that slips past her lips. My cock, which finally gave up after Draxos torturing me for hours, springs to life. “Holy crap,” she breathes, her body tense for other reasons. “What are you doing to me?”

“That’s not me, Calista,” Draxos’ voice has taken on the hypnotic state that never fails to turn me inside out. I slide my hand higher on his thigh and see that he’s just as affected as me. “That’s your body telling you exactly what you want.”

“What’s that?” Calista’s voice is soft, but isn’t because he’s using mind control over her.

“You felt it the first time we met.” Draxos lets the shadows drift down her arms and onto her legs. Her thighs fall open, her breathing turning harsh. “Didn’t you?”

“Yes,” Calista breathes. “I don’t understand.”

Draxos lets the shadows rest on the inside of her thighs. “Do you believe us?”

“Yes. I still don’t understand, but I believe you. I still have questions.”

“Of course you do.” Draxos strokes her cheek gently. “You can ask anything that you need.”

“I don’t even know where to start.” Calista closes her eyes and moans loudly. “What’s wrong with me? I’m so fucking wet.” Her eyes snap open at that, and her face blooms with color. “I didn’t mean to say that.”

Draxos grins. “We already knew that you were.”

“How?”

“We can smell it,” I answer, making that red in her cheeks slide down to her chest. I follow it down until it disappears into her tank top. Her breasts are perfect. Draxos is the only person I’ve ever been with, so I don’t have anything to compare them to, but they’re perfect to me. Not too small or too big, probably a handful. From the way I can see her nipples poking through the shirt, I know that she isn’t wearing a bra either.

Calista’s hand slides down her stomach, straight to her shorts, and Draxos clears his throat, breaking the spell in the room. He calls his shadows back, and Calista groans quietly. “I’m going to die of embarrassment now.”

“There’s nothing wrong with your reaction. It’s a normal way to react to your—” Draxos elbows me in the ribs before I can say mates. “To demons,” I correct. Calista sits back in the chair and smoothes the hair that escaped her ponytail out of her face. “Are you okay?”

Calista gives me a look like I’ve lost my mind. “Not at all. All this time I thought my dad was crazy, rambling about the world being unsafe and that demons were lurking everywhere. This whole time he’s been right. ”

“Your dad knows about demons?” Draxos asks, and his entire demeanor has changed from flirting to pissed off. “How?”

Calista throws her hands up. “I don’t know. Did you miss the part where I thought he was insane?”

I rub my temples, slowly realizing that this is no longer going to be easy. We just found our mate that has no clue who she is or what she’s capable of. If she was used to cast a spell of this magnitude, it means that she’s very powerful. And all that is hidden in an innocent, small, confused woman. “What else did he say?” I ask.

“He rambled a lot, but he mostly kept me out of it.” Uncertainty shows on Calista’s face. “I’m still not sure how I can help.”

“We aren’t either,” Draxos admits. “We just found out that there was a way to break the curse. I have someone I want you to talk to.”

“You need to tell her,” I whisper, and Draxos shakes his head. He kept one very important piece of information to himself with that story. Draxos didn’t tell her she’s a witch, and that is going to blow up in our faces later.

“Okay,” Calista agrees. “Where are we going? Are you going to do the…” she gestures wildly with one hand, “shadow thing?”

“No, my sweet Calista. We just need to go downstairs.” Draxos stands from the couch and slowly approaches her, holding his hand out. It takes several seconds but she finally slides her hand into his, letting him pull her to her feet. I get up from the couch and follow them from the room, putting my hand on the small of her back, making her bite off a moan.

“Okay. That’s getting embarrassing,” she jokes.

I chuckle and move my hand over to her hip. “You aren’t the only one affected.”

“I’m not?” Calista asks shyly, glancing at me over her shoulder.

“Not at all,” Draxos answers, opening the door to the basement. He helps her down the stairs and turns to face her at the bottom. “I was mesmerized the first moment I saw you.”

“Maybe you were hoping I could save you from damnation.”

Draxos looks shocked for a second, and then he laughs. “I’m more than happy to be damned. There’s something you need to know before we go in there.” Calista nods so he knows she’s paying attention. “This is the witch that cast the spell. She’s locked up with magical chains, but she can’t hurt you. I think the only person she’s going to talk to is you.”

“You have a woman locked in your basement?”

“Out of everything I just said, that’s what you picked up on?” Draxos says dryly. “No matter how I feel toward that woman, she’s been taken care of. She’s the only one who can get us home.”

I watch as determination comes over Calista. She puts her shoulders back and gives Draxos a tight nod. He leads her the rest of the way to the locked room. Draxos keys in the code, pushes the door open, and lets his shadows filter out behind him to block her from view. Donna is in that weird crouched position that she always does in the corner with her head bowed.

“We brought someone to see you,” Draxos grits out. He hates talking to Donna, but I’m sure he’s more tense because he had to bring Calista around her.

Donna slowly looks up, and Calista gasps loudly. “Hello, darling.”

“Mom?” Calista whispers. Then she lands on the floor in a heap, completely unconscious.

Mom?

What the fuck?