I set the drink back on her old wooden farmhouse table with heat lingering at the back of my tongue and fought the urge to cough. The burn shivered all the way down my throat, pooling warmth in my stomach and sending tingles through my fingertips.

  “Woo,” I gasped. “What was that one?”

  Poppy checked her notes, her lips pursed. “Astrid called it ‘Hellfire’.”

  “Perfect.” And that’s exactly what it tasted like with the exception of… “Maybe Cinnamon Hellfire, just to tone the name down a bit? Make it a bit more Christmassy?”

  Poppy laughed. “Christmas Hellfire?”

  Now it was my turn to laugh.

  It felt so good to be there, in Poppy’s kitchen, surrounded by all the other ladies of the Black Cat Cocktail club, and not in a frosty field having a gun pointed at me as I wondered if this was going to be it.

  The soothing heat and numbness the alcohol promised was just the proverbial cherry on top.

  Astrid, though too young to join in the fun as a full, drinking-age member, tended to invent cocktails for us to try, though she wasn’t allowed to actually mix them up. She’d mixed something up once, but that drink had resulted in a mix-up whereby Wanda was transplanted into Maverick’s body and vice-versa.

  You’d have thought Poppy would have been a whiz at mixology, being the town’s resident potion making expert, but no. Without Astrid’s detailed instructions, Poppy could screw up a screwdriver, which just blew my mind. How did you mess up two ingredients?

  It felt good to relax, surrounded by my friends, with the taste of spicy cinnamon on my tongue and warmth in my belly. It was something I never thought I’d ever have, really. I’d always struggled with making female friends, what with being a succubus and all. And male friends never tended to last. They always ended up wanting more, and less from me at the same time. But there I was, cocktail in hand, surrounded by women who got me, and it was perfect.

  I toyed with the little twist of candied ginger on the rim of my glass and thought about bringing up the idea of maybe Taliyah joining us next time. I wasn’t sure she was the cocktails and girl talk type, but, well, she had a lot on her plate. And it would be good for her to have some friends around her who understood what she was going through, and who might even have advice.

  “Well, don’t keep us in suspense, doll!” Darla’s drink, something involving gin and a lot of lime from the smell of it, sloshed dangerously close to the rim of her glass as she gestured towards me. “Was that little teapot the genuine article, or what?”

  I stared for a moment too long, trying to figure out what I’d just been asked. I liked Darla, she was fun, a little over the top sometimes, but she’d also been trapped as a ghost for a century, so now that she’d been brought back by Wanda’s out of control blood magic, I couldn’t really begrudge her letting her hair down, so to speak. But she also tended to use slang that no one else could ever understand.

  Darla was also a medium, and currently acting as a vessel for the late Chief Morgan in order to help out with solving crimes. A glance at Darla’s hand showed me that she wasn’t wearing the ring that anchored the Police Chief’s spirit to her, so Cain probably wasn’t in the building. And that was just as well because this was a girls’ thing, not a girls’-and-the-ghost-of-Cain-Morgan thing.

  I thought about saying something to Darla, asking her to take Cain to visit his sister, maybe. To check in on her. Later, I decided. Sometime when we weren’t all a few cocktails in and letting off steam.

  Darla was still waiting for an answer, so I turned a beseeching look at Wanda.

  Wanda mostly seemed amused at my floundering, if the little curl at the corner of her lips was any indication. She watched me squirm over the rim of her glass as she took a sip of her drink, something bright purple and still bubbling and smoking a little. Eventually, she rolled her eyes.

  “Was the girl actually a succubus?”

  “Oh!” I turned back to Darla, feeling a little silly. “Yes, Fox ran some tests on her blood, and Maddie is a definite succubus. After being faced with the truth, she admitted she’d started showing signs at about eighteen, and it scared the heck out of her.”

  Darla shook her head. “That’s rough,” she said, and knocked back the rest of her drink in true flapper fashion.

  That was an understatement. I stared down at my drink, tilting it back and forth to watch the little sparkles swirl. I remembered my own supernatural ‘puberty’, and ‘rough’ had been the best way to put it. At least I’d been surrounded by family who all knew exactly what was going on with me. I couldn’t imagine what it would have been like to go through the change alone, with no idea what my body was doing or why.

  Poppy took a sip of her drink, something fruity that smelled like strawberries, a little wrinkle between her blond brows. “Why didn’t her parents warn her?”

  “From what I understand, her father is human, and her succubus mother ditched the family when the kids were pretty young.” I shook my head, playing with the little piece of garnish on my drink. Honestly, I was surprised her mother had made it as long as she had. Most succubi weren’t exactly the marrying types. Not to mention, feeding from a human for too long tended to end really, really badly for the human. Still, you’d have thought Maddie’s mother would have checked back in from time to time, knowing there was a chance her daughter would be like her. She could have called. Dropped a note. A singing telegram, anything.

  “And her dapper didn’t even know what he was canoodling with?” Darla slapped the table with the hand not holding her drink. “That’s some baloney.”

  After a quick translation from Wanda, I shook my head. “Her father did know, actually. But he didn’t have any way of knowing if his daughter was going to follow in her mother’s footsteps, so he didn’t say anything. And he was human, and wasn’t technically supposed to know about anything supernatural, so it wasn’t like he could reach out even if he knew who to talk to about it.”

  Bailey, my friend and Darla’s fellow medium, winced. “That must have been a fun conversation.”

  “Yeah.” I sighed. “Not so much.”

  “That’s mundanes for you,” Wanda said, shaking her head. “Always making a mess of everything.”

  I wasn’t sure I agreed but kept my thoughts to myself. Instead, I actually sympathized with Maddie because hers was a terrible position to be in. No matter what, she’d deserved a bit of a heads up about just what she was. No one should have to had to walk into something like that blind.

  I took another sip of my drink, letting the heat and the spice curl down my throat, and set my glass back on the table. “When your inner demon awakens, your emotions are kind of all over the place. Not just lust, but everything is heightened. And usually anger is the number one emotion you feel—but it’s not like the anger you might feel from time to time. It’s like fury. So, Maddie was basically an emotional wreck, her succubus hormones going haywire, and then she found out her baby brother was dating a vampire.”

  Wanda shook her head, dark eyes glittering. “I’m sure that went over well.”

  “Like a concrete balloon,” I agreed. “It sent her into a rage. Especially once she figured out that Viviana was planning to turn Derek into a vampire.”

  Wanda’s lips pursed like she’d just bitten into a lemon. “You’d think after living a century, that even a vampire might grow out of impulsive and reckless decisions, even if Viviana’s body remained that of a teenager, for spell’s sake.”

  “You’d know, wouldn’t’cha?” Darla gave Wanda a little teasing nudge. “You’re the one dating a vamp!”

  Wanda shot Darla a look so sharp, it could have drawn blood. “Don’t call it ‘dating’,” she snapped. “I do hate that word.”

  “How about ‘relationship’ then?” Bailey asked.

  Wanda turned her arched brow expression to Bailey next but didn’t respond.

  “Wanda hates any word that implies any sort of expectation between her and a man,” Poppy explained on a laugh.

  Wanda looked at her and nodded. “Poppy is quite right.”

  “Then how about you and Lorcan are just pals?” Darla asked.

  “How about we change the subject?” Wanda responded with a quick smile and then turned to her closest friend. “I would rather hear about the magician who ambled into town only recently and then ambled right back out again.”

  “Who?” I asked.

  “Andre,” Poppy answered as she glanced down into her glass and a little smile turned up her lips. “Wanda’s talking about Alixandre Osmont.”

  “Why haven’t I heard nothin’ bout him?” Darla asked.

  “Because you’re a big mouth,” Wanda answered to which Darla pouted at her.

  Poppy shrugged. “Actually, it’s because there’s nothing to report,” she answered with a quick smile but there was something sad behind it. “He came into town, told Finn he was meant to be a magician and then breezed right back out of town again.”

  “And you haven’t heard from him since?” Wanda asked.

  Poppy shook her head. “Not a word.”

  “Oh, well, that’s just as well, right?” Bailey asked as she faced Poppy. “There are those who like to stay in one place and those who don’t.” Then she finished her drink and faced Poppy again. “Besides, you’ve got a pretty awesome boyfriend in Marty.”

  Poppy gave Bailey a smile, but that sadness was still in it. “Yes, I do.”

  I didn’t know why but I didn’t believe her. It was almost like she was lying to herself.

  Poppy looked at me then and that sadness was suddenly gone from her expression. “So that was why Maddie wanted to get rid of Viviana? To protect her brother?”

  “I think so. At least partly.” I did think Maddie wanted to look out for Derek. But I also thought she was taking out her anger at her absent mother, too. “From what she told us, she planned the murder well in advance. She even convinced some of her college friends to keep her brother distracted by flirting with him while she went to find Viviana.”

  “She went to meet a vampire in the vampire’s own territory?” Bailey shook her head, pale hair sliding around her shoulders. “That’s… brave.”

  ‘Brave’ wasn’t exactly the word I would have chosen, but it wasn’t wrong. “Maddie said she went there just to talk with Viviana, at first. To try and convince Viviana not to go through with turning her brother. But when Viviana refused to be persuaded and said there was nothing anyone could do to stop her turning Derek, Maddie got the jump on her, tied her to a chair, and staked her.”

  Succubi, even young ones, were a lot stronger than human women. Viviana wouldn’t have been expecting Maddie to be able to overpower her.

  “Horrible.” Poppy shook her head, her big blue eyes wide with distress as she clutched her glass with both hands.

  “Yeah.” I just couldn’t help but think of all the ways this whole terrible situation could have been avoided. If Maddie and Derek’s mother hadn’t abandoned them entirely, if their father had known what signs to look for, if they’d been able to reach out to the supernatural community of Haven Hollow for help. It might not have stopped Viviana’s murder, but it could have, and that was sad.

  Bailey twirled her little stir stick around her drink, a cloudy pale green concoction that Astrid had dubbed ‘the phantom’. It made a little tinkling sound against the glass. “What will happen to Maddie,” she asked, voice quiet.

  I heaved a sigh. I was a demon, and other than a few lines around the corners of my eyes, age was never really going to touch me. But in that moment, for the first time in my life, I felt old. Like really, really old.

  Thankfully, Haven Hollow didn’t have any kind of death penalty and while I believed Maddie should certainly be punished for her crime, because what she’d done was horrific, absolutely, at the same time, I understood the fact that she was a messed-up kid in the grips of a rising demon within her. A demon that had made her feel and act totally out of control.

  I took another sip of my drink and closed my eyes through the burn. “Well, she’ll have to face supernatural justice, even if she’ll never see the inside of a court room. She’ll be judged by the supernatural community, our council, and whatever sentence they decide, then the Hunter’s Guild will jail her.”

  Wanda made a face, but grudgingly nodded.

  Darla shook her head. “Rough,” she said, before going looking for a refill on her drink.

  Poppy stared down at her mostly untouched glass, her lips pulled down. “How are Marius, Mihaela and Stefan doing? This must be so hard for them.”

  That was an understatement. True, Stefan and Viviana weren’t biologically related to Marius and Mihaela, but that didn’t matter. They’d built a family together, they’d chosen each other, and they’d been together for a very long time. To suddenly have a piece of that ripped away, and so senselessly, I couldn’t even imagine it.

  “They’re… struggling,” I admitted. “They understand that Maddie snapped and wasn’t in her right mind. They even understand why—just like a succubus, they’re always constantly trying to fight their inner beasts, as well. And they also understood that what Viviana wanted to do to Derek was wrong.”

  “They thought it was wrong?” Poppy asked.

  I nodded. “They certainly didn’t condone it. But she was their daughter, their sister, and now she’s gone.”

  Bailey chewed on her lip, drink forgotten. “Do you know what they’re going to do? Are they going to stay in Haven Hollow?”

  I shook my head. “No. They said they’re going to leave. But they’re going to keep the haunted house going and they’ll collect the proceeds.” I turned to face Wanda. “From what I understand, Wanda’s brothers, William and Amos, have agreed to run it for them, and to make sure everything is taken care of.”

  Wanda actually threw back her head and let out a bark of laughter. “And believe me, when I found that out, I couldn’t wait to tell Lorcan. He’s just going to love it.”

  As far as I understood, annoying Lorcan was actually William and Amos’ driving motivation in agreeing to oversee the haunted house. But annoying Lorcan is kind of their prerogative as Wanda’s brothers.

  Poppy let out a little sigh. “Well, wherever the vampires end up, I hope they can find some measure of peace.”

  Unusually somber, Darla lifted her glass. “To Marius, Mihaela, and Stefan.”

  We all clinked glasses, and I threw back the rest of my drink, barely feeling the burn. All I could think about was how Marius and Mihaela had come to Haven Hollow to live their dream. They’d just wanted safety and family, in the end. Wasn’t that what most people wanted? I knew I did.

  Sitting here, surrounded by amazing, powerful women—well, it was more than I’d ever dreamed I’d have. But in spite of a lifetime of being told I was wrong to want it, I still planned for a future where I had a real partner, not a string of hook ups and broken families left in my wake. I wanted a home, kids one day.

  And I knew exactly who I wanted to provide that family. I just needed to strap on my big demon pants and go and get him.

  After one more cocktail.

  Epilogue

  Most succubi are all about the game.

  They move from party to party, racking up those frequent flyer miles, always on the lookout for their next meal. And don’t get me started about Incubi, who are basically pursuit predators in tight pants.

  The point is, they tended to ride high on the excitement, rolling in desire, and the smell of sex and sweat. And then when things started to cool down, or your partner just couldn’t sustain you anymore without dying, then they just moved on. There were no boring dates or social obligations when you were a succubus.

  So, if any of my family members could have seen me, snuggled up on the couch at Roy’s place, a soft blanket tucked over our laps and a bowl of popcorn between us as we watched some movie with a lot of sirens and car chases, they would have thrown their hands up in utter despair. My brother would have never let me live it down.

  I didn’t care.

  It felt so good to be close to him again after all the craziness of the past few days. I was only half paying attention to the movie, too content to rest my head on Roy’s broad shoulder and soak up the amazing heat his body pumped out.

  I’d missed him. Roy wasn’t just my boyfriend, he was also my best friend and favorite person. That’s why I was so scared about this relationship dive-bombing just like all my other ones had.

  I’d had this whole plan when the night had started.

  Roy had called me once while I was still at Poppy’s and invited me over for dinner and a movie. I’d showed up at his door ready to confront him about why he’d been so distant lately. I just didn’t understand it. If he’d meant his whole speech the other night about me being the one for him, and him not going anywhere, then why did it constantly feel like he was pulling away from me? And what was the truth he’d said he still needed to tell me?

  My determination had pretty much melted the second he’d opened the door with that blasted smile of his that completely undid all the carefully laid out plans I’d had. When he’d sat me down and put a plate of steak, fluffy baked potatoes and some of the best green beans I’d ever tasted in front of me, my plans had become a soggy puddle.

  I could talk to him another day, I decided by the time we’d sat down on the couch. Between Viviana’s murder, and Taliyah’s Winter Queen powers being awakened too early, to dealing with Derek and his father and trying to get them what help the council could, it was okay to just enjoy a quiet, easy night with the person I liked best.

  The discussion would keep. And so would the one about me breaking the magic that was keeping Taliyah from taking her place as Olwen. All of it could wait.

  I hadn’t fed in a few days, and my inner succubus was perking up to sniff the air like a shark scenting blood in the water. But even if I’d been absolutely stuffed full, I was pretty sure I still would have been aware of the swell of Roy’s bicep against my shoulder. Of how warm he was, and how good he smelled, woodsy and a little wild.