Chapter 4

Four

Calista

Waking up the following morning, my head is pounding, and I have no memory of coming to bed. I peel my eyes open and slam them back shut when I feel my heartbeat in my temple. The dream slowly starts coming back to me, and I groan.

Not only did I dream up Draxos again, I added another hot demon, Adrian. My father’s words must have seeped further into my brain than I thought. I slowly sit up on the side of the bed and let my stomach settle. What is wrong with me? Standing from the bed takes effort but I finally make it to the bathroom on wobbly legs, take care of business, brush my teeth, and head to the kitchen to find something for this pounding headache. I dig through the cabinets and want to cry when I remember that I forgot to get something at the store.

“You look like you could use this.” I gasp and spin around at the deep voice, only to come face to face with the demon I thought I made up in my head. Adrian is standing there with a sheepish look on his face, holding a bottle of Ibuprofen. He sets it on the counter beside a glass of water and tucks his hands into his pocket. “You hit your head pretty hard last night.”

Adrian isn’t as tall or wide as Draxos, but he’s still imposing with the black eyes and horns. His face seems…softer somehow. “You’re real. I thought it was a dream.” It hits me like a ton of bricks, and my head starts pounding. “You have my mom.”

Adrian acts like he’s going to reach for me, but chooses to lean against the counter instead. “We didn’t know she was your mom, Calista. We didn’t know anything until three days ago.” I open the Ibuprofen bottle with shaky hands, pop two in my mouth, and chase it quickly with water. Before I can open my mouth, someone knocks on my door, making me frown. “I ordered you breakfast,” Adrian says quietly. “I’d get it, but…” He sweeps his hand over himself, and I smile despite feeling like the world fell out from under my feet.

I walk quickly to the door, and my eyes widen when the delivery guy keeps handing me bags. With a brisk nod, he disappears back down the stairs, and I kick the door shut with my foot. I go back to the kitchen and set the bags on the counter. “Were you expecting to feed an army?”

“I didn’t know what you’d like, so I got one of everything.” How the hell am I melting over a fucking demon right now? Not only did he save me from having a meltdown over my headache, he ordered me breakfast.

I shake those thoughts from my head and turn around to get plates from the cabinet. Grabbing three, I turn back around and pause before I set them on the counter. “Is Draxos here?”

Adrian shakes his head. “He will be soon. He figured it would be easier for you to talk to me.”

“Why?” I start pulling containers from the bag just so I have something to do with my hands.

“You found your mom tied up in our basement last night.”

I sigh and finally look up at his eyes. “My mom disappeared eleven years ago under mysterious circumstances. That seems to line up with when you got locked here.” For some reason, I’m no longer questioning if this is real or not. I can feel it in my bones that it’s real. “I had no idea she was a witch.” Something passes across Adrian’s face. “What?”

Adrian sighs and pulls out the stool at the counter. He sits down and crosses his arms in front of him. “You are too.”

“I am…what?”

“A witch.”

I stare at him like he has three heads and then laugh, immediately regretting it when my head starts throbbing. “No, I’m not. Wouldn’t I have powers or something?”

“You do,” Adrian says seriously. “But for some reason, they never manifested.”

I start piling food onto the plates and push it toward him. He wasn’t joking when he said he got everything. There’s eggs, bacon, sausage, pancakes, waffles, biscuits, gravy, and fruit. But I’m not complaining. He picks up the fork, but only pushes the food around the plate. “You don’t like it?” I ask, sitting beside him, ignoring the ridiculous notion that I’m a freaking witch. I’m not even touching him and can feel that electricity that I felt last night with both of them pulsing between us. Oh my God. If that wasn’t a dream, that means what happened with Draxos’ shadows was real. I almost played with myself in front of them. My face flames, but there’s nothing I can do about it now.

“Oh. We don’t have to eat.” I look at him in surprise, and he smiles, showing off those gorgeous fangs. I wonder what they would feel like sliding against my skin. Stop it, Calista! “We eat for pleasure but not sustenance.”

“I guess you have to eat souls to stay alive.” I slap a hand over my mouth, mortified. “I’m so sorry. That was rude.”

Adrian laughs. “No worries. Your soul is safe with us.” He takes a bite of pancake, leaving me to wonder if he’s serious or not. Do they really eat souls? I was totally joking, but now I’m curious, maybe a little scared, and a lot turned on. Horns and black eyes aside, Adrian and Draxos are gorgeous. Draxos’ hair is jet black and slicked back from his horns, whereas Adrian’s hair is soft brown and lays wildly around the base of his.

I pull my eyes away before he can catch me checking him out and focus on my food. I want to moan at how good it is but refrain because he’s heard me do that enough. The more I eat, the more the headache fades into the background. It’s still there but tolerable.

“You got Drew’s.” Draxos’ voice booms across the kitchen, and my head snaps up just in time for him to appear out of the shadows.

I gasp, grab my chest, and almost fall off the stool. Adrian’s hand snaps out to hold me upright so I don’t hit the floor. Again. “You have to stop doing that!”

“But it is so much fun.” Draxos grins, flashing even longer fangs than Adrian’s. Draxos grabs a fork and starts eating like he’s never seen food before.

“This is one of the only things he likes about your world,” Adrian says, looking at Draxos like he’s the only person in the room. I look between them, and it hits me.

“You guys are together?” I ask, feeling something building in my stomach.

“For many, many years now,” Draxos answers, reaching over and running his fingers across the back of Adrian’s hand.

“Are you, like, old?”

Adrian chokes on a laugh, and Draxos’ eyes narrow. “Our age isn’t determined like human years.”

“So you’re old,” I joke, like I’m not talking to a demon who could probably snap my spine with a look. But the truth is, if he wanted to, he already would have. And his boyfriend wouldn’t have brought me pain pills and breakfast. “Really old.”

Adrian bursts out laughing, and the sound warms my heart. It’s so rich and deep. “In human years, we would be around three hundred or so.”

“Oh shit. I’m surprised you don’t just turn to dust.” When Draxos growls under his breath, I give him a sweet smile and go back to my food.

“I could run circles around you, human. And we aren’t just together. Adrian is my fated mate.”

“That’s a thing?” I shake my head when I realize how ridiculous that is. “Never mind. Demons and witches exist. Of course fated mates do.”

“Speaking of that,” Adrian says, pushing his plate away. “We need to talk about what I told you.”

Just the mention of it brings my headache back in full force, and I groan. I feel warm hands on my arms, and I open one eye to see Draxos towering over me. “What’s wrong with her?” I hear the concern in his voice and want to reassure him, but my voice won’t work.

“I don’t know. She had a headache, so I slipped out to get her something for it.”

“Something’s…off,” Draxos says, making me grab onto his arms. He tilts my face up with fingers under my chin. “She didn’t hit her head that hard. Can you open those pretty eyes for me?”

It’s a struggle, but I finally open them but can’t focus. Draxos just looks like a huge blur. “What’s going on, Draxos?” Adrian asks, his voice bleeding with worry. It’s starting to freak me out.

“I don’t know.” I feel the warmth of the shadows running across my skin, but this time it’s not to drive me crazy, it’s like he’s looking for something. When they slide across my head, I sigh, finally feeling relief. “Is that better?”

“Yes,” I croak. “What’s wrong with me?”

“I’m not sure. But I think I know someone who does.”

“My mom,” I say quietly. “Because she’s a witch.” I swallow, not wanting to say what I have to next. “And I am too.”

The moment I say the words, absolute agony tears through me. A scream rips from my throat, and my head feels like it’s being split in two. I feel several arms and shadows trying to comfort me, but it isn’t helping this time. “Draxos,” Adrian says, his voice shaking. I try to reassure him, but I end up screaming again. “Draxos,” he says more urgently.

“I know.” Draxos scoops me up in his arms, making the screaming worse. “I’m so sorry.” Draxos stares into my eyes, and that weird floating feeling comes over me. The pain is there, but it’s being buried by whatever he’s doing to me. His eyes flare red, almost like flames are dancing in them. “Sleep now, my sweet Calista.” My eyes start getting heavy, following his command. “It will be over soon.”

I fall into a deep sleep, but somehow still conscious of what’s going on around me. I can hear Draxos and Adrian talking but can’t concentrate on what they’re saying.

How the hell did my life go from crazy to crazier in the span of three days?

That’s something I’m going to find out.