The Mark (Interracial Paranormal Romance) (Toil and Trouble) (18 page)

"It's actually just a mile or so up the road on your left," Jack answered. "Across the street from Meredith." His eyes never left the road. "We met at a coffeeshop."

"How romantic," she gushed, giving me a pinch. "So was it love at first sight?"

I blushed, wrenching my arm from her. "Maybe we shouldn't do this right now."

"Love is the perfect mood booster," she insisted. "I'm not asking about the first time you had sex for gods sake."

"Jesus, Mom!" I hissed, shaking my head with embarrassment. "I'm sorry, Jack."

My only reply was Jack drumming his fingers on the steering wheel. "It's okay," he said after a moment. "Your mom's right." He flashed her a small smile in the rearview mirror. "I knew she was special from the moment I laid eyes on her."

"Mmhm," Jack nodded. "For the first time in a long time, I couldn't smell a human's blood pumping throughout their body. Your daughter smelled like peonies and sweat. It was beautiful."

I glanced at him wistfully. "And he said that. "You smell beautiful." I thought it was just some pickup line. He got away with it because he was the cutest guy I'd seen in awhile."

"I bought her a bone dry cappuccino," Jack added. "And I asked her what a girl like her was doing in a place like this."

I smiled. "And I gave him a look and said, "One generally goes to coffee shops to drink coffee."

"And I added that meeting mysterious strangers was an added bonus."

I laughed, remembering how nervous I was. How excited. "Then I held up a strand of my then blue hair and told him there was obviously nothing mysterious about me." I turned to the window, watching the cars zip by. "Then I made a crack about LOST, and then how mysterious it was that he hadn't even heard of the show."

"And the rest is history," Jack said icily. The cool chill of my betrayal crept back in and the only sound echoing through the car was the tires slapping the asphalt.

"A blind man can see that you two care about each other," Mom said quietly. "Believe me, when you have something like that, something special, it's worth fighting for."

I turned to Jack then, staring at the profile of his handsome face in the dark. We could start over, right?

I slid my hand over and rest it on top of his. My heart beat rapidly when he didn't recoil from my touch. My lips trembled when he turned his hand over and interlaced his fingers with mine. But when he inhaled, he pulled away from me, like there was still a trace of what I'd done in my scent.

His knuckles were bleached white as he put both hands on the steering wheel. "So when we get to Lily's, you should let me do all the talking. Succubi are tricky bastards."

I tucked my hand back in my lap and laid my head back in the seat. I could hear Mom doing the same and sent her a silent thanks. And I was thankful for the pitch black darkness of the car, so no one could see me cry.

It was a little past midnight when we pulled onto Franklin Street. In true college town fashion, students clad in UNC sweatshirts still lit up the streets like fireflies. For a moment, I wondered what my life would have looked like if I'd taken a different path. I'd probably be cooped up in a dorm somewhere or out on a coffee run with my friends. I'd be blissfully ignorant about how deep the supernatural well really went, and would’ve used my magical talents for love potions and focusing spells. I would be making the trek to UNC after hours so I could see my boyfriend, for a good luck lay before a big test. I wouldn't be traipsing on campus for a sit down with a succubus.

Jack tapped on a door with a placard that said Dr. Jospehine Defleur. I prepared myself for some exotic beauty with an accent. An accent that felt like caramel on my skin and made me drop trow without hesitation.

But when the door creaked open, I could barely believe my eyes. She was middle aged, her pale skin crinkled at the eyes and mouth. Her lips were slight narrow things, like her rail thin body. Her hair was strawberry blonde with tuffs of gray weaving throughout. She wasn't ugly, by any means...I just didn't look at her and think 'sex machine'.

She turned back to her sparse office and padded back to her desk. She leaned back in her chair, stretching her arms above her head. "Mom? I'm gonna need you to wait outside. There's a lobby on the second floor-"

Jack flashed her an apologetic face with a dash of "I told you so", but I knew either way, once Mom made her mind up about something, it's damn near impossible to change it.

"I'm not going anywhere," she said evenly, her feet planted firmly beside ours. "You're not my first succubus, you know. Your kind likes to feed alone. Once you figure out a way to hustle me out of here, Jack's next."

Josephine smirked. "What a smart little witch! If you were a few decades younger, you'd so be my type." The jovial playfulness fell from her voice. "Yall came to see me. Not vice versa. I call the shots."

"No," Mom said through clenched teeth.

In a blur of light like a gust of wind, Josephine went from behind her desk and ripped me from where I stood and slammed me into her glass bookcase. Her fingers were tight against my windpipe.

I didn't even bother flailing, but I saw Jack bare his fangs and my mother outstretched her hand, ready to do battle.

Josephine grinned at me, her teeth suddenly more pointy than I remembered. "They must really love you. They're still pretty dumb, though. My only real match is your boyfriend, and he hasn't fed in awhile so..." She tightened her grip and I squeezed my eyes shut, gurgling in pain.

"You both know I'm holding back," she shot over her shoulder. "And you won't be able to disable me before I break her pretty neck."

My eyes fluttered open and I saw my mother's shoulders sag. "If that monster drains my daughter," she said to Jack, "I'll stake you both and have a barbeque."

"Saucy," Josephine giggled.

When my mother walked from the office and slammed the door shut, Josephine released me. I fell to the floor, a sprinkling of glass falling around me. I was on all fours, gasping and sucking in sweet, beautiful oxygen. I looked over and caught a reflection in a shard of glass.

It was Josephine--but about 10 years younger. The lines in her face were faded. Her cheeks and lips were rosy. Her strawberry hair hung in gentle waves around her fair face.

She saw what had caught my attention and touched her face, like she'd forgotten she was that beautiful as well.

"That's how I looked before I was turned 15 years ago," she said. "Beautiful, vibrant...full of life." Jack was still staring at her like he wanted to rip her throat out, but one steely glance from Josephine silenced that.

"I was a couple of years older than you, Jade," she continued. She walked over and perched on the edge of her desk. "Like you, I worked for NACA. Was Necromancer of the Year two years in a row." She turned her attention back to Jack. "Then one of his kind decided he was tired of being immortal--and was too much of a coward to meet the sun. So he waited until I finished one particularly hairy summoning, with fresh dead blood burning in my veins."

I slowly pulled myself up and staggered over to where Jack stood.

"He almost killed me," she said, her voice hollow. "I used one last burst of magic and projected myself home." She chuckled. "That night after I changed, I drained every last person in my apartment building. Women, men...children. 327 people." She ran a hand through her stringy hair. "They blamed it on carbon monoxide poisoning. And I was swept away to Nashir House-"

"We didn't come here for your life story," Jack snarled.

She bared her fangs-two rows of perfectly pointy white teeth. "I drained two students on my way back from class. Interrupt me again, fanger, and so help me-"

"So you went to Nashir House," I interjected, silencing them both.

"Succubi boot camp," Josephine said with a smile. "I learned that like vampires, I had to kill to survive. Luckily, we don't have the same ultraviolet sensitivity. But while your beau should look like the cryptkeeper, he's frozen forever—and succubi age. Humans will still see us the way we were, but other supes and specials, and when we look in the mirror..." Her voice trailed off.

I couldn't help but feel a little sorry for her...after all, I'd almost become her half a dozen times. It suddenly sucked all the fun out of Jack and I playing chicken, playing with the reality that I could have become a succubus.

"So about who killed Barius," Jack piped up, trying to steer us back on track.

"Ugh," Josephine said with an eye roll. "For immortal creatures, vamps are so damn impatient." She gestured at the door. "Get out and I'll give her the name."

"You can’t be serious," Jack said incredulously. "You've been foaming at the mouth since you saw Jade. If you think I'm leaving the room, you're sorely mistaken."

"Huh," Josephine said, crossing her arms. "Here I thought you were desperate and needed information so your girlfriend doesn't lose her pretty head." She shrugged. "Your choice."

"Finally!" Josephine said with a sigh of relief. "Some goddamn time alone." She beckoned me with a finger. "Come here."

"Maybe we should maintain a safe distance."

She narrowed her eyes. "Now."

I gulped and obliged her, standing inches from the desk. I gasped as she slid from the edge and stopped a few feet from me. I could feel her breath hot on my skin. She smelled like peppermint and chocolate.

She took my face in her hands and brought her lips to mine. Her lips were smooth and pliable and tasted like cherries. I pulled her closer, lost in the moment.

When she pulled back, I didn't even see her fangs retract. I saw Jack. Jack the way he was before the Riley craziness. With care and longing glittering in his olive colored eyes.

But in a blink of an eye, Jack was thrown back and the desk was engulfed in flame. I saw Josephine's body, writhing in the inferno. She was pinned.