A Tangle of Hearts (A Shade of Vampire #44)(52)

“You’re under the influence of sigala and pretty much the whole succubi tribe right now. You don’t know what you’re doing,” Anjani said to me, her voice like liquid ice.

“Sigala?” I heard myself ask, my voice low and echoing in my head.

“The drink you’ve been guzzling like water, you reckless boy! You’ve had too much of it! It’s supposed to enhance your senses, but if you drink an entire pitcher like you did, it has a very different effect. Especially if there are dozens of succubi projecting their attraction on you!”

“You sound mad.”

“Of course I’m mad! I didn’t claim you for myself! I claimed you so I could rescue you from my sisters without looking like a fool and without fighting them off!”

I took a deep breath, the realization starting to sink in. The drink’s effect was becoming obvious, as was my subsiding arousal from my brief encounter with the two succubi outside.

“You don’t want me,” I mumbled with disappointment.

She let out a long, tortured sigh.

“It’s not that, Jovi. I can’t control myself around you. I have a hard time keeping my nature from playing with your senses, so I can’t be sure of what you’re saying or feeling toward me. You have no idea how difficult it is to not know whether someone likes you for you or because your succubus features make them like you.”

She crossed to the other side of the tent and sat down, bringing her knees to her chest. I watched her quietly as her diamond glow gradually dimmed.

“I don’t know what it’s like for you,” she said slowly. “But for me it hasn’t been easy. I’m taught that feelings are for weaklings, that my succubus nature is designed for pleasure and procreation, not for emotions. And yes, Bijarki is right. I am young. I’m too young to understand a lot of things, too young to be as tough as Hansa and treat males like I’m supposed to.”

My mind was moving in slow motion, but even so I noticed a gap between what had just happened outside and what she was telling me. And since my tongue was so loose under the perfect excuse of sigala and succubi effects, I decided to bridge the gap.

“What does that have to do with you claiming me in front of your sisters?” I asked.

“I didn’t claim you because I want you. If you’re ever to come to me, it will be because you want to. Not because I want to. And certainly not because it’s my succubus nature that draws you to me. It can’t be, because I try so hard to keep it from influencing you. And it’s so hard.”

Her voice trailed off as she lowered her head, hiding her face behind her knees.

I was speechless, still trying to untangle what she was telling me. My brain was so damn slow.

“I’m not sure right now. I’m not sure if you touched my hair because you wanted to or because my nature is drawing you in. And I will never, ever claim you because I want you. Get that through your thick head,” she continued.

I had no control over what came out of my mouth in that moment. Something deep inside of me had taken over. “I do like you.”

Judging by how my stomach churned, my wolf instinct kicked in immediately afterward, slapping the human side of me silly as soon as I had said those words.

Her head shot up, eyes wide open.

“Whether it’s because of your succubus-whatever or because of you, I’m pretty sure it’s the same thing,” I mumbled. My eyes closed. My body felt like it weighed a ton. I struggled to open my eyes.

A faint smile quickly passed over her face. It was the last thing I saw before my eyelids gave in.

“Being a succubus is an integral part of you, Anjani. You should embrace that. I don’t care why I’m so attracted to you, but I can’t deny it. It’s a part of me…”

Darkness enveloped me, along with a very sweet and familiar sensation, something I’d felt coming from her before when we’d been up in the tree and when we’d fallen asleep beneath it.

My head spun while I drifted off into my dreams.

I didn’t get to hear her reply.





Serena





[Hazel and Tejus’s daughter]





Not long after Draven had rejected the succubi and wound up with a red smudge from her lips on his forehead, others tried to join us. They laughed and danced and poured more of the spicy rose drink in our goblets. At least six other succubi tried seducing Draven in front of me over the course of an hour.

Some had been “gracious” enough to invite me to join them, while others had courteously suggested to Draven that they go somewhere else more private. Each time, I had the urge to smack them. Each time, he had nudged my leg with his as they ran their fingers through his hair and whispered sweet nothings in his ear. He politely rejected all of them.

I admired him for his patience, and he did have a point, given that we were still nurturing an alliance with the succubi. And it wasn’t like I had any claim over Draven, despite what the first succubus had said. Still, I didn’t feel comfortable leaving him in the company of horny warrior chicks.

Nevertheless, as I watched a seventh—or eighth?—succubus approach us, swaying her hips to the beat of the drums, I decided enough was enough. Draven casually chewed on what looked like small purple berries, popping them into his mouth one at a time. A smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth as his nostrils flared.