Chapter 2 Luciu #2
Gracie braces her hand on the back of an armchair set to the side of the fireplace.
She scowls at him while he glances back at her.
His face softens slightly, and he tilts his head to the side.
There’s something going on between them.
A fight of some sort, if I had to guess.
Not something I want to get involved with, that’s for damn sure.
The biggest of the three with the flaming hair pauses, half turned toward the kitchen. “Sorry, mate, didn’t catch your name?”
“Uh, I’m Luciu.”
“Lucy-lu,” he says with a grin.
“Most people just call me Luc.” I’m not about to correct him. I have no idea what he is, but just looking at him has my balls trying to crawl back up into my body.
“Luc?” Gracie waves at me. “Come sit and eat while we make a plan. Fuck my life. I’d really like a gummy right about now.”
I pat my pocket as I stand. “Uh, I’ve got some Mike and Ikes, I think?”
She snorts and flashes me a devastating smile over her shoulder. “Not that kind of candy.”
“Oh… Okay.” I get up, still clutching the teacup, unsure if I should wait for Puck to move first.
The bi-colored fae with the ferret-thing around his shoulders thrusts his hand out, almost shoving the teacup out of my hands.
I shift my grip and clasp his hand. His milky eyes focus on a spot to my left while he grins.
He can’t see. And now that we’re this close, there’s no mistaking the resemblance between him and Puck.
“Darius,” he says as his brows arch in a meaningful way I don’t understand. “I know this doesn’t make sense right now, but I’m so glad to finally meet you.”
I try not to wince at his tight grip. “Uh, thanks?”
His brother—twin?—comes and claps him on the shoulder. “Don’t make things weird.”
Darius’ smile dims. “Was it weird? Did I make this weird?”
“No, you’re fine,” Gracie says and glares at Puck.
I have no idea what’s going on, so I scurry past them and sit with my back to the double doors leading out the back of the house. I figure being close to the exit might be a good idea. Not that I can go very far. I am tied body and soul to the woman across from me.
Maybe they’d let me live in the backyard if I didn’t cause them any problems?
I almost snort at the image that comes to mind of me making a stick-fort with a bed of leaves. It’s a far cry from my current living situation. The last time I tried camping didn’t go well. To say I’m addicted to my technology and comfort would be an understatement.
“Luc,” the big guy’s voice booms so loudly I jump as I plop down in the chair. My tailbone hits the wooden seat with a painful thud. “Tell us about yourself.”
“Right. Uh, sure thing.” I set the teacup down and wipe my hands on my pants.
The big guy comes over with a platter of pancakes and places it in the middle of the table. I guess this was what he was doing when I got here. It is still pretty early . And I haven’t had the opportunity to eat anything substantial since lunch yesterday.
The fae on either side of Gracie begin loading her plate in perfect synchrony while she frowns at them.
Have to be twins. Now that they’re almost side-by-side, there’s no mistaking the resemblance. Darius’ coloring is different. Some sort of skin condition must have given him the pale and dark complexion. But their bone structure and the slant of their ears are identical.
“For fuck's sake, stop,” she mutters at the two of them and shoves their hands away. “Luc, please continue? And help yourself. Sorry if I’m a little short. It’s been a long night, and we have some… Stuff is happening. When it rains, it pours, and all that. Go on, please.”
She even musters a polite smile for my sake, which is a nice touch.
“Of course. Thanks for… Well, thanks for not kicking me out. I’m Luc.
” I wave at them while the big, scary one sits next to me and slings his arm across the back of my chair.
“I, um, have a company that does complex warding and security. That’s how I ran across Puck.
I applied to the coven because I keep getting shafted by clients not paying their remaining balance.
My policy is twenty-five percent on booking, another twenty-five when the work starts, then fifty when it’s done.
So I’m literally losing half my fee because, well, no one is going to go to bat for a warlock. You know?”
No one at this table other than me is a warlock. I’ve got four sets of clueless eyes looking back at me. Awesome. Let’s just parade how pathetic I am in front of these super powerful dudes. I feel great about myself right now.
“Um, honestly?” I chuckle as my nerves make my skin feel too tight. “I thought the coven would tell me to fuck off. My great-great granddad was human, and everyone in my line has been excluded from the coven.”
“Wait.” Gracie waves her fork at me. “You mean the only human in your line is your great- great-granddad?”
“Yup.” I nod. “Until me, there have only been daughters. My mother, ah, she owns Lilith’s Lounge…”
I hate the way my voice lilts up when I say that. I’m not ashamed of what my mother does for work. But I know what people think. How we’re perceived. What her work says about me and my origins.
Gracie’s eyes go wide, and I brace myself for rejection and expulsion from the house. She holds her hand in front of her mouth as she swallows her bite of pancake. “Shut the fuck up.”
“What’s Lilith’s Lounge?” the big guy asks.
Gracie grins at him, and her hand dips toward her lap.
“It’s a witchy brothel. I always wanted to go, but it would have been frowned on.
Not all of the coven marriages are happy.
So, for the husbands who maybe aren’t getting it at home, they take a trip over to Lilith’s Lounge.
I heard they have siphons that skim magic off customers. Is that true?”
Her attention is back on me, and she does this excited wiggle thing in her seat. This is not the reaction I was expecting, and it takes me an embarrassing moment to catch up.
“Ah, yes.” I clear my throat and twirl my fork. “But it’s all on the up-and-up. Customers have to sign forms. Very official.”
“That’s so fucking badass.” She leans forward, attention solely on me.
It feels like the clouds have parted and the sun just came out for me alone.
“Is it true you guys have more stored magic than the coven? Wait, don’t answer that.
I’ve heard so many rumors about the women who run the place.
And she’s your mom? How is it I have never met you before? ”
My mouth is hanging open.
I know it is because I can feel a tickle of air on the back of my throat.
Am I in an alternate reality? She thinks my sordid family history is impressive? Far be it from me to dissuade her from that perception. I won’t dare to hope this works out, but I can’t keep that seed from taking root and sprouting.
“No and yes,” Darius says firmly while slicing a few strawberries, which he then places on the side of Gracie’s plate.
“What?” I mutter.
“You’re answering questions not in this timeline, Darius,” Puck says while slathering Gracie’s pancakes in what I think is Nutella.
“Shit.” Darius winces then points to his milky white eyes. “Sorry. Seer. I don’t always know when I am. Now isn’t always now for me.”
“Here, let me help you, mate.” The big guy next to me reaches over and spears three pancakes, which he piles onto my plate.
“We didn’t exactly introduce ourselves, did we?
I’m Vyslan, but you can call me Vys. I am an incubus archdemon, and currently Gracie and Ezra are the most important people in my life. ”
I freeze and gape up at the demon sitting next to me.
Not a djinn.
Not a fire elemental of some sort.
And not just a demon.
An archdemon.
Just one of the most powerful creatures I’ve ever heard of. My body locks up with fear and adrenaline while my lungs stop working.
He blinks his eyes, and they glow like embers, then he shakes his head, and two horns sprout from either side of his head.
“And you tell me not to be intimidating,” Puck mutters across the table. “He’s going to make the poor guy piss his pants.”
Vyslan frowns at the fae. “We don’t kink-shame in this house.”
The demon smacks my shoulder just hard enough to jar me out of my stupor. I gasp for breath, and my head pounds with this new revelation.
Puck shakes his head slowly and leans forward over his plate, one arm curling around it like he has to guard against someone stealing it.
Darius grins and claps his hands. “I love this.”
Gracie sighs and smiles. I think she must touch his leg or something because Darius jumps in his seat like he’s been pinched. Or perhaps he’s not accustomed to touch. His pale skin flushes pink, and then he grins even wider.
“Sorry,” Gracie says, returning her attention to me. “So, you’ve got one human a few generations back. Your grandmothers and mom are all witches from then on out.”
“Yeah. I, um, didn’t go to school here. That’s probably why we never met. Mom sent me to a posh boarding school in England. Thus, the weird accent every now and then. You can imagine that the proper witches aren’t fond of the idea that I’m related to some of them.”
“Shit.” She nods. “I didn’t even think of that.
I can see the problem, though. The only reason they admitted me is because it’s super obvious my Dad isn’t my sperm donor.
My witch mother left me with Dad, who is human through and through.
We look nothing alike, but he’s the only family I claim.
I have no idea who my actual sperm donor is. ”
“Fuck.” I gape at her and this sudden similarity in our stories.
While I can make a guess about who my sperm donor is, it’s really a toss-up between three well-connected witches, none of whom would ever willingly claim me.
Not that I want them to. They’re all dicks.
Real bottom of the barrel types obsessed with their own importance.