Chapter Ten

M y migraine was gone, and the fog in my head had cleared, which meant one thing: It had been the work of the succubi. Damn. How had I not realized before what they were? But I knew why. The headache was a result of the disorientation spell. And that disorientation was probably why I didn’t notice if Antonio had red in his eyes. Those sons of sirens. If I hadn’t had Des with me, I would’ve blasted them all to hell. I wondered if they had been the same succubi who’d framed Ric and killed my parents. The thought filled my heart with dread and my soul with rage.

I took a hasty shower with one eye open and my lipstick wand at the ready. I couldn’t have been gone more than ten minutes, yet when I returned, my suitcase was upside down on the floor, all the contents spilled out of it.

I nudged Ethyl’s hand draped over the side of the bed. “Who went through my suitcase?”

She rolled onto her side, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. “Not I.”

I spun around at the sound of a demonic giggle and sucked in a curse when four pairs of little eyes blinked at me before disappearing in a crack in the wall. Gnomes!

I heaved my suitcase to the bed and rearranged my things, trying to figure out what exactly the gnomes had stolen, for I was sure they’d taken something. “Just great.” I couldn’t find my most comfortable wireless bra. “My spare bra is gone! I only packed one!”

Ethyl rolled onto her other side with a groan. “Just wash your other bra.”

I shook my head. “And risk them stealing that one, too?” No way in hades was I taking off my only bra. Stupid, stinking gnomes. I would’ve cursed them with siren scabies, except they were little and cute, and as much as I wanted vengeance, I also didn’t want the gnomes to retaliate and steal more of my stuff. Then I remembered the sound of something falling behind the bed when I’d packed in haste at the succubi house. I counted my underthings, realizing everything was accounted for except for that bra.

“Damn!”

“What is it?” Ethyl asked.

“I think I dropped my bra at the succubi house.” I threw my hands in the air in frustration. “So now the succubi have my favorite bra, which means I’ll never get it back. Can my day get any worse?”

“Yeah,” Ethyl said as she visibly shivered while wrapping her wings around herself. “Our faces could end up on missing striga posters like those poor satyrs.”

I shuddered, feeling as if spiders were crawling up my spine as we locked gazes. “You saw those, too?”

She nodded. “And considering succubi love eating goat, I can only imagine what happened to the satyrs that were staying with us.”

I wondered how she knew they liked goat. I didn’t remember learning about that in my demonology courses. But I feared she was right. Bile projected into my throat when I remembered all those hanging salamis. Maybe I should finish reading that boring book on succubi.

After muttering several curses under my breath, I climbed into bed with Des. Yes, I knew my son was old enough to sleep by himself, but Ethyl had already started snoring again.

Facing Des’s back, I snuggled against a pillow, wishing he was little enough for me to hold in my arms. After our near brush with murderous succubi, I wanted to hold my son close. I still clutched my lipstick wand, and I’d probably never let it go.

Des rolled onto his other side, facing me with alert, luminous eyes. “Mama, I want to go home.”

I brushed a strand of dark hair out of his eyes. “I know you do, sweetie. You’ve had a lot of changes today.”

He tucked his hands beneath his cheek. “I don’t like it here.”

I rubbed his arm, pleased when he didn’t pull away. “I don’t, either, but we can’t go home until we stop the bad demon.”

He blinked at me, ruminating on my words. “How?”

“I don’t know how yet, but I’ll figure something out. Thank you for being such a brave boy.” My throat suddenly tightened as an avalanche of emotions threatened to bury me. If we hadn’t left in time... “I love you so, so much.”

His smile was a like an endorphin injection straight to my heart. “I love you, Mama.”

Then he rolled back onto his other side, and I rubbed his back until he fell asleep. I’d no idea how I’d be able to sleep tonight after all that had transpired over the past few days. I feared that Ric’s imprisonment was only the start of our problems, that these demons wouldn’t stop until they had us in their clutches. Then what?

BZZZZ. BZ. BZZZZZZZ . Bz. Bz. Bz.

My eyes flew open at a familiar rattle coming from the walls. What the hex?

Bz. Bz. Bzzzz. Bz. Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

It almost sounded like a...

Bz. Bz. Bzzzz.

Oh, hex no! I recognized that sound, for I’d relied on my favorite sex toy for most of my lackluster marriage. Then I’d misplaced it a few years ago and had to replace it with a new one. Had I left it in my suitcase? I hadn’t used that suitcase since the last time Colin and I had taken an adult-only vacation in an effort to revive our marriage. Of course, the effort had been wasted, and I’d relied far too much on my purple silicone friend.

And now it was lost to me again, because the freaking gnomes stole my vibrator.

I shot up in bed, looking around the room. Moonlight barely filtered into the dusty curtains through the small window overhead. My suitcase was once again dumped all over the floor, and Ethyl wasn’t in bed.

Bzzzzzzzzzz.

I snatched my wand from underneath my pillow when the door creaked open, shining my light on the intruder.

“Heeey!” a familiar voice said as she shielded her eyes.

I lowered my wand when I recognized the shape of Ethyl’s wings as she slipped inside.

“Where were you?” I asked on a heated whisper.

She gave me an indignant look. “I needed to use the bathroom if that’s okay.”

Bzzzzzzzzzz.

She stopped as if she’d hit a brick wall. “What’s that sound?”

I hugged my knees to my chest, looking away. “Nothing.”

“It sounds like a—”

I held up a silencing hand as Des stirred beside me. “Don’t say it.”

Her hands flew to her mouth as she looked down at my toppled suitcase. “How did the gnomes get a vi—?”

I pointed my wand at her chest. “I told you not to say it.”

She clutched her stomach, letting out a belly laugh that I was sure would wake Des. “You packed a BOB?”

“BOB?” I asked.

She nodded, then wiped a tear from her eye while continuing to laugh. “Battery operated boyfriend.”

Heat flushed my cheeks as I looked away. “I think it was in my suitcase from my last vacation.”

She gave me an accusatory look. “You never go on vacations.”

I chewed my bottom lip, the constant buzzing coming from the wall fanning the flames of embarrassment. “It was with Colin for one of our anniversaries a few years ago.”

“Ohhh,” she cooed while sitting opposite me on her bed. “I didn’t know Colin liked to spice things up.”

Bzzzz.

Merlin’s balls! What were they doing with it? On second thought, I didn’t want to know.

“He didn’t. This was for the nights he was too quick on the draw.” Which was most nights, I almost added.

She held her belly while continuing to laugh. “And now those gnomes are probably getting more action than you’ve gotten your whole marriage.”

I refrained from rolling my eyes. “Thanks for the reminder.”

We flopped back onto our beds, staring up at the ceiling while my vibrator continued to buzz.

“Ugh!” Ethyl groaned while squeezing her pentagram charm. “I can’t sleep like this.”

“Can you go get it?” I asked her. Surely, her miniature self could fit into the crack in the wall. The gnomes weren’t much bigger than her six-inch form.

She rolled onto her side, giving me an incredulous look. “And risk being molested by a pack of horny gnomes?”

Bzzzz.

When Des rolled over and blinked at me with luminous eyes, I stroked his face. “I’m sorry, baby. Try to get some sleep.”

He shook his head then sat up and let out a startling clap that left a ringing in my ears. “Gnomes, quiet!”

The buzzing stopped, and I heard the pitter-patter of little retreating feet.

Des plopped back down on the bed and closed his eyes while Ethyl and I shared a look.

“That kid’s got some serious magical chops,” Ethyl whispered.

I cringed while giving her a stern look. “Yeah, and no one else needs to know.”

She clutched the pentagram charm that rested against her heart. “Of course. I swear on my star.”

I’d no doubt my son had used magic to silence the gnomes, something not even I knew how to do. I’d never subjected my son to a magical aptitude test, and I never planned on it. As an autistic witch, other witches assumed he had little to no magic. It was why Colin and his parents didn’t balk when I’d told them I wanted to homeschool Des. What they didn’t know was that I had homeschooled my son because I didn’t want other striga discovering how powerful he was. I only prayed the succubi never found out.

“LUCI, WAKE UP!”

My eyes shot open, and I practically flew out of bed at the sound of Ric’s voice. The fuzziness in my head and the fact that the hostel’s walls had faded into mist told me this was a dream, yet the hot breath coming from the winged lion creature that hovered over me felt so real. The beast had some of Ric’s human features, though his golden, slitted eyes looked too feline, as well as his flattened nose and the deep cleft above his mouth.

“Ric!” My hands flew to my mouth. “They let you go?”

“No.” He frowned. “I escaped.”

“What?”

“Hurry.” Pinning back his wings, he nodded to the mist behind him. “We have to go.”

I scooted back when he hovered closer to the bed. “Go where?” I placed my hand on a lump beneath the covers, knowing it was Des still asleep.

He pawed at the ground as shadows darkened his golden lion eyes. “Far away where no one will find us.”

My bones quaked as a chill swept up my spine. “You-you want me to run away with you?”

“I’ll keep us safe.”

I shook my head. “I can’t.”

He arched a furry brow. “Why?”

“I’m a mother, Ric.” I rubbed Des’s back when he stirred. “I can’t become an outlaw. What will happen to my son if they ever find you?”

The lion gave me a pitying look. “You don’t get it, do you? It’s not me they want.” He nodded toward my son. “It’s him.”

All moisture drained from my mouth as my veins hardened to sludge. “Wh-what? Why?”

“His magic, Luci.” His voice dropped to a deep rumble. “They want it for themselves, and they won’t stop hunting him until they get it.”

Goddess, no!

A scream died in my throat as I shot up in bed, sweat dripping down my brow. I looked around the familiar setting of the hostel room, from watery morning light spilling in through its small, lone window to the faded floral wallpaper, and most importantly, my son sleeping beside me.

“It was only a dream,” I whispered to myself while snuggling against my son. “It was only a dream.”