I knew that laugh. I’d known it for years.

  I glanced back at Maverick. “Give me a second,” I said before pushing past the Incubus at the door. He was either too confused or too dumb to do anything but stagger out of my way. I moved into the foyer, my heart in my throat as I followed the pulsing beat of the music and the sounds of cheers and laughter to the sunken living room that had been turned into a cross between a disco club, and a bacchanalia.

  Nope, my ears weren’t playing tricks on me. There, sitting on the black leather couch that would probably have to be burned after the party, getting a lap dance from what appeared to be a fairie stripper, was Jonathon.

  All of a sudden, there was a roaring in my ears that had nothing to do with the crappy music. All I could do was stare as my heart continued to pound and I could feel my skin starting to get as cold as the air outside. Not because Jonathon was clearly enjoying himself and getting handsy with the dancer in his lap… I’d gotten pretty desensitized to that sort of thing while we’d still been married. No, what had me standing there, feeling like I’d gotten knocked over the head, was the power I could sense rolling off him.

  No freaking way.

  No wonder the sex between us had always been phenomenal, I thought with an ugly little laugh caught in my throat. It was always one of the (very stupid, admittedly) reasons why I’d tried to stick it out as long as I did—we just had this physical passion that was insane. A couple hours in bed together were incredibly stress-relieving when I came home from work. I could feel the tension just melt away under his hands. Except, of course, once Jonathon himself became my biggest source of stress.

  After the shock at seeing him here, in Haven Hollow, at the center of this lust party, came the anger, and I grabbed hold of it with both hands, wrapping it around myself like a protective shawl. I was so exhausted of Jonathon being able to hurt me, and I’d promised myself that those days were in the past. What was one more lie, on top of all the other ones? Was hiding his Incubus nature, and using me, really any worse than the legion of women he’d betrayed me with? No. It was just another shovelful of dirt on top of the casket that held our marriage.

  If I had to guess, he’d done all of this, this whole party, on purpose just to get my attention. He was only coming to Haven Hollow in the first place to rub his newest relationship, if you wanted to call it that, in my face, and to try and make me miserable. I guess his being a demon made the petty, vindictive streak of his more understandable.

  After all the garbage he’d put me through, both before and after the divorce, I really shouldn’t have been surprised. But somehow, I’d still never expected him to put me in the position of having to confront him with his stripper girlfriend currently on his lap. Or that doing so would alert me to the fact that I’d been married to an Incubus for a good chunk of my life.

  No wonder he’d always been stepping out on me—he was hardwired to do exactly that.

  Son of a bitch.

  Jonathon threw his head back and laughed at whatever the Incubus sitting next to him had said. His gaze landed on me, where I was standing in the foyer, and his smile faded. He actually looked surprised, bordering on stunned, his mouth moving soundlessly.

  He finally managed to pull himself together enough to speak.

  “Taliyah?” he asked, frowning at me as he pushed the woman on his lap onto the couch so he could stand up and take a step closer to me. “Is that you?”

  “Yes, it’s me,” I snapped purely out of reflex, only then realizing he was able to see through my glamour.

  If anything, my response just seemed to surprise Jonathon more. Or maybe it was just that my voice hadn’t changed as much as my appearance had. And on that account, it was no wonder he was shocked to see me because I looked every inch the faerie princess; pale, ageless, my ridiculous, snow-white waist length hair done up in a knot at the base of my skull. I looked more like Elsa from Frozen than even Elsa did.

  The stripper tried to crawl back into Jonathon’s lap, but he unceremoniously pushed her back down onto the couch but because he wasn’t looking at her, he actually managed to dump her onto the floor as she gave off a surprised squeal. She seemed shocked, but not angry. I would have punched him in the crotch if he’d ever dared to treat me like that.

  He walked towards me, where I still stood in the foyer, not even bothering to hide what he was. But I figured the proverbial cat was miles out of the bag for both of us. Regardless, sexual energy poured off him, filling the air like steam from scalding water. The scent of musk and ash was almost choking. A childish part of me wanted to wrinkle my nose, to fan the air like I smelled rotten eggs. Instead, I just remained where I was, standing there totally stoic and blank faced, like he wasn’t even worth noticing. I could feel the power wreathing around me, twining around my limbs, urging me to give in.

  Only this time, I wasn’t caving.

  This time, I was stronger. And at the moment, I actually could have kissed my Fae abilities, because they were the only reason I wasn’t buckling. They were providing me with the defenses I needed to resist his magic. And as to his magic, I wasn’t sure if he was able to pour it on in various levels, but it felt like he was trying currently giving it all he had—like he was trying to overtake me with it.

  But it wasn’t working. In fact, the scent of his sexuality was so pervasive, it was downright annoying, like incense that’s way too strong—like filling an area with musk and sandalwood until you feel nauseous. I stood untouched, as cold as ice, as his Incubus energy tried to seep through my defenses.

  The fact that he was even making the attempt pissed me off. It was always a favorite strategy of Jonathon’s, whenever I was angry about something. Any time an argument popped up, he’d get in close and kiss me senseless. We’d end up in the bedroom, the argument totally forgotten until I was at work the next day, beating myself up and wondering why the hell I’d let it go.

  Well, now I knew why. Because I’d been partially mind-whammied by a freaking sex demon. I faced down the demon who’d done his best to break my heart. “Shut off the come-hither, before I shove a boot up your ass.”

  Jonathon came to a stop a few feet away from me, and gave me a speculative once over, looking like he was impressed with the fact that his power no longer worked on me. Once upon a time, that slow perusal would have been enough to awaken heat under my skin, in my belly. Right then, though, it mostly made me want to take a shower.

  “This is quite the change, Taliyah.” His gaze lingered on my chest before drifting up to my hair, where the faintest hint of a leaf-pointed ear was visible. “If you were always a changeling, then it makes sense as to why you could withstand more feedings than an ordinary human woman.” He paused and tapped his fingers against his chin like he was admiring a famous painting. “And yet you never told me what you were.”

  “Kind of like how you told me what you were?”

  He chuckled at that. “Touché, I suppose.”

  I gritted my teeth against the reminder that all of our intimate moments had been literal food for him. I was done giving anything to Jonathon, even a reaction.

  “No, I believe you weren’t anything other than human when you and I were… involved. I would have been able to read your power had you been anything else.” He continued to study me. “Though I don’t understand why this new appearance and powers arrived so late. You should have started showing signs as an adolescent.” And then he smiled even more broadly in what appeared to be an attempt towards charming, but I’d seen the man behind the mask, and so his reaction just came off as oily. “I have to say, I like the new look, Taliyah. I’ve never had a changeling before. At least, not that I was aware of.”

  The nymph stripper had managed to pick herself up off the floor where she’d been unceremoniously dumped, and had more or less jiggled herself back into the costume that passed for clothing. I didn’t know how she managed all the straps and ties without looking, because she was too busy staring at me with something that came uncomfortably close to awe.

  “She’s not a changeling,” the young Fae whispered, her eyes wide. “She’s high Sidhe. More than that, she’s the high Sidhe. That’s Princess Olwen of the Winter Court, heir to the throne.”

  She stumbled forward a step and dropped into a bow that threatened to spill her back out of her costume.

  “Oh, God,” I grumbled, shaking my head and rolling my eyes. “Will you please stand back up?”

  But she made no motion to do anything of the sort and remained bowed. “My deepest apologies, Princess Olwen. I had no idea what I was being brought into.”

  I had to drop my hands to my hips in order to resist the urge to sigh and pinch my nose. It wouldn’t actually do anything to help the headache blooming to life in the middle of my forehead, anyway. I nodded to the faerie woman. “What’s your name?”

  “It’s Cardinal, my lady,” she answered, looking up slightly while still maintaining her deep bow. “Red, when I’m performing.”

  “Alright, Cardinal. Why don’t you head on out, while I deal with this little bachelor party.” It wasn’t a question, and I made sure my tone made that clear.

  She nodded rapidly, and finally stood as she beelined for her coat and ridiculously high-heeled shoes before she all but fled out the front door.

  Jonathon’s face twisted into an ugly scowl as the front door slammed. “What the hell? I invite you to my party and this is how you treat my guests?”

  I snarled at him. “You didn’t invite me anywhere and furthermore, no one invited you to Haven Hollow.” I took a deep breath as the fire of my anger continued to burn. “And… you didn’t have any right to feed off me without my consent for all those years,” I continued as I took a step towards him, Maverick still waiting for me at the front door. It wasn’t that I could see him there, it was more that I could (strangely) feel him there. “It’s tantamount to assault, and you damn well know it.”

  He sneered. “You didn’t mind so much when it was happening. In fact,” he said, his voice dropping to a purr as he took another step towards me. Even though I wanted to back away, I didn’t. I held my ground. “You were pathetic enough to beg me to stay for years, even though you knew somewhere in the back of your head that I’d only married you because of your family’s clout.”

  Jonathon took another talking step forward, and the cold, analytical part of my mind wondered how I’d ever found him handsome. Oh, sure, he was nicely put together. But the condescension, the arrogance, the sheer spitefulness just dripping off him, it made his features look like a mask over a monster.

  He stepped up onto the stair that put his head level with mine, smiling in a way that showed too many teeth to be genuine. “My family wanted to have some control over Portland’s law enforcement, and through you, we were able to do just that. You were just a means to an end, Taliyah.”

  He leaned forward, and before I could stop him, or react at all, he brushed a kiss over my lips. And even though he was a powerful demon, I felt nothing. Well, I felt a huge wave of relief because his power didn’t affect me any longer. Whatever appeal Jonathon had once had to me was well and truly dead.

  Jonathon didn’t seem to notice my icy lack of response, too caught up in himself, which was pretty much the story of our entire marriage.

  “If I wanted you,” he breathed against my lips. “I could make you come back to me. You’d crawl on your knees, begging for the chance to–”

  Jonathon didn’t get a chance to finish.

  Maverick stepped up behind me then, so close that I could feel him against my shoulder in a line of furious heat. Power prickled up my spine. It didn’t hurt, but I was very aware of it, like I was standing too close to a lightning strike. He glared down at Jonathon.

  “Shut. The. Fuck. Up.”

  Chapter Ten

  Maverick lifted his hand, and a blood bolt slammed into Jonathon’s chest.

  The latter went flying, sailing backwards as he was blasted off the steps, and crashed through the far wall of the house in a shower of splintered wood and drywall dust.

  I just stood there, stunned, my mouth actually hanging open. Stunned, and yes, also a little turned on. Honestly, Maverick’s display of territorial behavior did way more for me than Jonathon’s entire Incubus shtick. Times like a hundred.

  I was perfectly capable of defending myself, even if my magic was still a bit unpredictable. I wasn’t the type of princess to wait in a tower and hope someone would rescue me. But I had to admit, if only to myself, that it was nice to have someone who knew all that, who knew what I was capable of, and who still wanted to defend me, anyway.

  Plus, having someone magically punch Jonathon was just so, so very satisfying. I’d been wanting to do the same myself for years, but Jonathon was exactly the type of jerk who would be crying ‘police brutality’ at the top of his lungs if I lifted so much as a finger at him.

  Unfortunately, Incubi were pretty hardy demons, especially ones who over indulged themselves regularly, and Jonathon recovered from Maverick’s attack pretty quickly. Though, my lips twitched with the urge to laugh, watching him pick himself up out of a pile of rubble, so covered in dust that it looked like someone had dumped a sack of flour over his head.

  He stormed back over to the stairs, his face twisted into a snarl. “And who the hell are you,” he all but growled at Maverick.

  Maverick glared at him, clearly unimpressed with the display. “My name is Maverick Depraysie. I’m a Warlock of the Scapegrace Coven, and that was your only warning to keep your filthy demon hands off my wife.”

  I was pretty sure that nothing Maverick could have said would have stunned Jonathon more. He just stood there, staring, while his mouth actually hung open in surprise.

  At least it had shut him up. That in and of itself was a miracle.

  Sometime between Cardinal fleeing the house, and Jonathon being turned into a demon wrecking ball, someone had scraped together enough brains to turn the music off. I took advantage of the silence, and pitched my voice loud enough to be sure that everyone could hear me, and made sure to sweep my jacket back so they could all see my badge clearly.

  “We’ve had noise complaints about this party, so I’m here to deliver a warning. You can either keep it down, or I’ll be coming back here to drag you all to jail. And we won’t mention what Maverick here will do if you try to charm your way out of a cell.”

  I glared around the room, and all the Incubi meekly looked away. Except for Jonathon, who still looked totally and completely shocked.

  “And someone better tell me where my deputy is before I get really pissed off,” I added. The Incubus who had answered the door just simply pointed to the end of the foyer. With Maverick behind me, I walked through the entry and found my deputy in the kitchen, in the middle of playing what appeared to be strip poker.

  With another man.

  As far as I knew, Roland (my deputy) wasn’t gay so the fact that he was nearly naked just spoke to the power of the Incubus. I was just glad Roland’s boxers were still firmly in place, or the next staff meeting would be unbearably awkward—for me, anyway. After tonight, I’d be sure to get Roland’s memory cleaned from whoever could do it.

  I snagged Roland around the upper arm and dragged him up and out of his chair, much to the displeasure of both men. When Roland turned to face me, I could see how blown out his pupils were. They looked almost entirely black, with just a thin rim of blue around the edges, he was so far gone.

  The glare I turned on the Incubus should have frozen him to his chair, but at least it seemed to cool his ardor enough that his mouth shut so fast, his teeth clicked together.

  “Pants,” I growled through gritted teeth, passing my stumbling officer to Maverick.

  Whatever the Incubus saw in my face must have told him that kicking up a fuss would not end well for him, because he passed over the deputy’s pants without any protest. I made Roland get dressed before I pushed him into the back of my cruiser. He was more than half gone on Incubi pheromones, and in absolutely no state to drive the squad car parked up the road. I’d send someone to pick it up in the morning. And that person would probably be Maverick since I didn’t want to field the questions that would no doubt come up.

  Speaking of, Maverick hadn’t said a word since we’d left the living room, he just stalked along behind me like an incredibly pissed off shadow. I could feel the heat of his anger at my back, like I was standing too close to an open flame. Once we were standing outside my cruiser and I’d shut the door on the dazed deputy, I turned to face him.

  “Are you angry with me?” I asked quietly.

  Maverick blinked at me, clearly surprised. “Why would I be angry with you?”

  I eyed him, before continuing tentatively. “It’s pretty obvious that you’re mad.”

  “I’m angry at Jonathon, Tally.” Maverick shot an ugly glare back at the house. “I’m furious that he just… kissed you, right in front of me. I’m angry that he’s such a blatant asshole and I’m angry with the way he spoke to you… and looked at you. Mostly, I’m angry that I couldn’t do worse than just knock him through a wall.”

  Something golden and happy bubbled up in my chest, but I tried to keep it from showing, only allowing him a tiny smile. “I can’t condone murder, Maverick.”

  As if he could sense the change in my mood, a teasing light entered Maverick’s eyes. “Oh, come now,” he wheedled. “Surely you can make an exception? Just for that rat bastard? Think of it as a type of pest control. No one would ever even miss him.”

  A quiet huff of laughter escaped me, and I shook my head. “I have to get deputy Roland home.”

  Maverick nodded. “I’ll follow you.”

  “You don’t need to. I can manage one officer high on pheromones.”

  “Of that, I have no doubt,” he answered, a touch wry. “I meant, I’d follow you home. Just to make sure no one gives you any further shit tonight.”