6. Succubi are picky
6
SUCCUBI ARE PICKY
T oday, I will be smart and ‘accidentally’ show up late.
Queen Rune is coming to the Scott household today to discuss wedding plans. She has multiple staff members that she’s put in charge of, but we have to decide a few things—like color.
Uh, I don’t even care at this point. If I say red, Mom will be mad. If I say anything else, Queen Rune will be upset.
I don’t think red is a bad color for a wedding. And if it’s tradition for the vampires, I don’t have a problem with it. I want to observe traditions from both succubi and vampires, as I am both.
I sip on my latte slowly while I consider my options.
If I angered my mother, she’d be unbearable for a few days, but she would eventually come around, especially if I explained my reasoning to her. Queen Rune, on the other hand, doesn’t like me. She has gotten better since Damek spoke with her, but she’s got a grudge against me. If I side with my mother, it’ll only make things worse. And since I don’t want my future mother-in-law to hate me…
Or, I could just let the two of them fight it out. I don’t have to get involved at all. I can sit back and let them make all the decisions. I know no matter who gets their way, Mom or Queen Rune, my wedding will be beautiful.
I hear footsteps and I tense as I turn around. I relax when I see it’s just Damek.
He lifts an eyebrow, looking at his watch. “You’re late.”
“Oh, am I?” I take a sip of my latte to hide my grin.
He chuckles. “Learned that lesson, did you?”
I put down my cup. “Yes. I have decided I’ll just let my mom and your mom fight it out. They don’t need me there for that.”
“What about what you want?” Damek asks.
I shrug. “I’m a succubus—my mother has been planning my wedding since I was born.”
“Weddings are important to succubi?”
“Yes. Very important.” I slowly inhale, wondering how to explain my culture to Damek. “Succubi and incubi are extremely picky when it comes to dating. When a couple decides to get married, it’s a huge deal. Everybody celebrates the union of the couple. Weddings aren’t just a one ceremony thing—it’s something that lasts for many days. It’s a celebration for family and friends.”
“Succubi are picky?” Damek perks up.
I nod. “Extremely.”
He takes a step closer. “And you’re sure you want to marry me?”
My cheeks grow warm. “Yes.”
His face brightens. “Do you want a multi-day celebration for our wedding?”
“No,” I admit. “I rather like the short ceremony that vampires have. From what I understand, the ceremony lasts less than ten minutes, yes?”
“Vampires are impatient. But before the ceremony, there are celebrations. We’ll have dinner with everybody and people will bring us celebratory gifts. After the wedding, we will leave for our honeymoon.” Damek’s cheeks turn red at his admission.
“So why is Queen Rune making such a big deal about our ceremony, if it only last ten minutes?” I ask.
“Because every clan leader is invited. There will also be leaders of other supernatural races attending our wedding. My father is good friends with King Basilicus.”
I suck in a sharp breath.
The dragon king will be at our wedding?
“He’s also reached out to King Elwin Krishorn and I imagine an invitation will be sent to them, though who knows if they will accept,” Damek continues, like he’s not naming off some of the most powerful supernaturals in our time.
King Elwin is an elf, a species once believed to be dead. A couple of years ago, it was revealed that they were very much alive.
“And I’m certain your family will be there too,” he says.
It takes me a few moments to realize he’s talking about my incubi and succubi family. I nod slowly. “Yes, they will come. I imagine all of my aunts, uncles, and first cousins will be here. Maybe a few second and third cousins as well.”
“How many cousins do you have?” Damek asks.
“I haven’t counted in a while,” I admit. “But I know I have more than one hundred first cousins.”
Damek’s eyes widen as he stares at me in shock. “You have over one hundred first cousins?”
I raise an eyebrow, surprised that he’s surprised. “Incubi and succubi like to procreate.”
He coughs.
I laugh, realizing how strange my family must seem to Damek.
“Do you know all of your cousins?” he asks.
I nod. “Of course. We get together multiple times a year with the whole family, but I grew up seeing some of them every day. And I worked with some of my cousins too...” My voice trails off as I realize that Damek is going to be meeting my cousins—all of them.
“Hey, are you okay?” Damek puts his hand on my arm.
I chew on my bottom lip. “Yeah, I’m okay. I just realized you’re going to meet my family. You know that I’m the only hybrid, right?”
He raises an eyebrow. “It’s crazy that out of that many family members, you’re the only hybrid. Even I have a couple of hybrid cousins and my family isn’t very big.”
“I just mean that my female cousins are succubi. And they’re really pretty.” I glance away from Damek.
He takes a step closer. “I told you, I’ve met succubi before. None of them have ever held any kind of appeal to me. You’re the first woman I’ve ever had serious feelings for.”
Serious feelings…
Could Damek possibly be falling for me?
“As much as I’d love to keep stalling, my mom has texted me five times in the last three minutes asking where we are.” Damek frowns at his phone.
I groan. “Are you sure we shouldn’t just let them fight it out? They can stress over the planning and we can just show up.”
“Tempting.” Damek grabs ahold of my hand and together we head toward one of my dad’s conference rooms where our moms are waiting for us. The only reason I don’t refuse to go is because I know Eden is also there and I don’t want to leave her to deal with Mom and Queen Rune on her own.
When we walk inside, I hear the familiar argument of our moms fighting over colors. They don’t even pause when Damek and I walk in, they just keep on yelling at one another. Eden is sitting at the table with her hands folded on her lap. She has her head down like she’s trying to make herself as invisible as possible. Knowing Mom and Queen Rune, I’m sure they’ve tried to drag her in on their argument.
“Damek, what color do you want?” Queen Rune turns to face her son.
He shrugs. “I don’t have an opinion.”
“Madeline?” She turns her gaze to me.
I glance at my mom for a second, then I look down. “Red is tradition for the vampires, so it’s fine with me as succubi don’t have color traditions.”
Damek squeezes my hand to try to encourage me.
I take a deep breath and look at my mom. She is frowning as she studies me—maybe she wants to make sure I’m not being ‘bullied’ into choosing red.
“Mom,” I say softly. “I know that I’m a succubus, but I’m also a vampire. I want to embrace this half of me.”
She nods. “Okay.” She then turns to face Queen Rune. “Now that the color is settled, we should talk about the ceremony.”
Queen Rune narrows her eyes. “What about the ceremony? It will be a traditional vampire wedding ceremony.”
“As my daughter said, she’s only half vampire. She is also half succubus. Succubi have a lot of traditions that need to be followed. Such as—” she begins, going off on a long tangent about what is ‘traditional.’
The longer she speaks, the redder Queen Rune’s face becomes.
Damek gently caresses the top of my hand with his thumb, which is when I realize that I am squeezing his hand tightly. I loosen my grip.
“Sorry,” I say softly, not wanting to interrupt my mother’s very long, and clearly rehearsed, speech.
He grins and softly responds, “I’m okay with any succubi traditions you want to follow.”
I shake my head. “I don’t want a wedding that lasts multiple days. I like the one day ceremony that vampires have. There are a few traditions I’d like to keep, but I am fine with a vampire wedding.”
The room goes quiet and I realize that I wasn’t speaking so softly anymore.
“If that is what you want,” Mom says, giving me a curt nod. “But you know all the family will want to be here.”
“Of course.” I tuck my hair behind my ear.
“And just how many people are you thinking of inviting?” Queen Rune says as her assistant opens her notebook. “I believe we have two hundred extra seats—”
Mom cuts her off. “Two hundred won’t even cover our immediate family. No, that simply isn’t enough.”
And just like that, the two of them start arguing again.
I groan and cover my face with my hands.
Is this what my life is going to be like from this point forward? My mom and Damek’s mom fighting over every little thing? I can just imagine our children’s birthday parties being ruined by their arguments. Just thinking about it gives me a headache.
Queen Rune abruptly stands, her chair making a loud noise and it rubs against the floor. She points a finger at my mother, raising her voice. My mom, not to be outdone, also stands and starts yelling back. While the two of them are screaming at one another, I push myself up from the table and exit the room as quietly as I can. Neither of them notice, they’re too busy fighting to notice anything else.
I lean against the wall and take a deep breath, trying to calm my racing heart and mind. When the door opens, I flinch, looking up. I relax when I see Damek walk out.
“Are you okay?” He walks up to me, never taking his eyes away from mine.
I shrug.
“You’re not… regretting this, are you?”
I let out a long breath and shake my head. “No. I don’t regret you, Damek. I just wish our moms got along better.”
“I’m sorry. I’ll talk to my mom—”
I cut him off. “No, it’s not just your mom. It’s my mom too. They’re both at fault here. I’m not asking you to take a side—there is no right side.”
“I’m on your side.” Damek puts his hands on my shoulders. “Always yours, Maddie.”
My heart melts as I look into his brown eyes. They glow in the way that vampire eyes always seem to glow.
“You’re really beautiful,” he says.
“Me?” I lick my lips as I look into his eyes. “You’re one to talk. When I mentioned you to Julien, he told me all the vampire girls want to date you.”
He scoffs. “Because I’m a prince.”
I raise an eyebrow. “I don’t care if you’re a prince—I just like you.”
He grins. “Maybe that’s why I like you so much. You’ve never cared about titles. You proved that the night we met when you punched me.”
“You know I didn’t mean to do that.”
“I know.” He takes a step closer, making me look up to meet his eyes. “I had never been so bummed because I thought you were dating Kaine. I connected with you that first night. After our conversation, I was about ready to tell my dad to put in an offer for me instead of Duncan.”
“I’m glad my punch didn’t scare you off.”
He leans closer. “It only made me want to date you more.”
Before I can respond, his lips gently touch mine. He kisses me softly and any thoughts of our fighting mothers and wedding planning cease.
This is right. What is happening between Damek and me feels like fate. I’m not going to let anything come between us.
His hand cups my cheek and I feel his thumb caress the side of my jaw. My body melts into his.