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"Get off her!" Trevor launched himself at Thane.

The incubus raised one hand and smacked Trevor across
the head. The impact sent him sprawling backwards.

I wanted to lift up to see if Trevor was okay, but I
didn't. I stared at the demon sitting on me, his intentions clear.
Death breathed its hot fiery breath across my face. I didn't want
to die. He'd taken so much from me; I refused to let him finish the
job.

Anger swelled like a tidal wave inside. Anger and the
burning need and desire to live, to thrive. I could feel the change
coming and I welcomed it. I let it fill me until it spilled over my
edges.

"Now, back to..." Thane paused and really looked at
me. "Huh. What do we have here?"

With everything I had, I pushed him away. I sat up
and then lifted off the bed. Literally.

My back pressed to the wall, rising up, higher and
higher. I wasn't floating like before but sliding up the wall to
the ceiling.

Thane looked up at me, taken by surprise, but also
amused, just as Trevor struggled to his feet.

"Oh this is good." Thane laughed. "You've been
keeping secrets Trevor."

There was blood on Trevor's face. His lip was split
and it dripped down his chin. I wanted to float down and lick it
off his mouth. I wanted to kiss him until the blood, his essence,
flowed down my throat. Jesus, I sounded like a vampire.

Trevor's aura flared wildly. The color made my skin
tingle. God, would it always be this way, where I wanted him so
much. I didn't know how I could desire him so much and not want to
suck the ever living soul out of him.

This was just another reason to hate Thane.

The incubus got off the bed and stood, hands on hips,
scrutinizing me. "I remember you now. You're that eager little girl
from Boise. The one we dumped in the trash."

At the mention of what had been done to me, I sprang
off the ceiling, talons at the ready. I came at Thane fast. He
didn't expect it when I swiped at his face, splitting his cheek
open, and then bolting to the other side of the room. I
crab-crawled backwards up the wall again.

He wiped at his cheek, staring at the blood on his
fingers. He turned and pinned me with his dark gaze. Then he
started to laugh. It wasn't a harsh mocking laugh that I would
expect from him, but one full of good humor and even joy.

The shock of it was enough to knock me from my
rage-fuelled transformation. And I fell face first onto the rug.
Again.

"Oh, I like her," Thane said between guffaws, "Full
of sugar and spice and everything nice."

Trevor rushed to my side, and helped me to stand. He
kept his arm around me as he glared at the demon. "Let her go."

Thane stopped laughing but there was still humor in
his eyes. "Let her go? Are you kidding me? Do you know how long
I've been looking for the perfect playmate? Ages, brother. This one
fits the bill perfectly." He licked the blood of his fingers.
"She's what your sister would've been if she'd been strong enough
to live."

I sensed Trevor's movement before he made it, but I
still wasn't fast enough to grab him before he was charging at
Thane with murder in his eyes. The incubus was ready for him.

Thane punched Trevor in the face, then hand around
his neck, he picked him up and slammed him down onto the coffee
table, cracking the wood.

"I should've killed you months ago," Thane growled,
"But Devon's too sentimental."

Trevor kicked and struggled but it was to no avail.
Thane was too strong.

I came up behind him. I had to do something. I
couldn't let Thane kill Trevor. "Stop it!" I screamed.

Ignoring me, Thane continued to squeeze Trevor's
throat. His face was actually turning purple from the blood filling
his head and the lack of oxygen.

"I'll do whatever you want, just let him go."

Quicker than I could see, Thane let go. Trevor
sputtered and gasped for air. I crouched next to him and helped him
up. "Are you okay?"

He nodded.

Thane loomed over us. "So, whatever I want, hey?"

Without looking at him, I nodded. Bile was rising in
my throat from making the offer. What did I just get myself
into?

"Awesome. I've always wanted a slave."

I stood. "A slave?"

He smiled. "Yeah, what did you think I wanted?"

I blushed hard. I looked down at the floor hoping he
didn't notice.

But he noticed.

He laughed and it was cruel and cutting. "Are you
serious? Oh, sugar pop, you're really not my type."

"I was your type when you nearly killed me," I bit
out between clenched teeth.

He stopped laughing, and looked at me. Really looked
at me, as if seeing me for the first time. "True. I am sorry about
that."

"Excuse me?" I sputtered, "Sorry? You're sorry?"

"Yeah, I'm sorry you survived. You should've been all
the way dead, then we wouldn't be having this conversation."

Astonished, I gaped at him. For a second, however
briefly, I thought he possessed a shred of decency, an ounce of
humanity. But he proved me abysmally wrong. He was completely
devoid of anything resembling a soul.

Then it hit me. Why he did what he did. He sucked out
other's souls because he never had or ever would have one of his
own.

"Oh. My. God." He chuckled. "You actually look
shocked. What did you think, I'd grown a heart or something?" he
played his arms out to the side. "Please. I'm a heartless, soulless
killer. That's what I do and who I am. Don't ever think otherwise.
Because that would be a huge mistake on your part."

His arms dropped back to his side, and then he
motioned toward Trevor. "Now, get your boy here and get out of my
room. But I expect you back here at the ass crack of noon to start
your slave duties."

I put my arm around Trevor and led him out of Thane's
room. We returned to ours. Once inside, I helped him to the sofa,
then got him a glass of water.

He took a sip, swallowing with difficulty, then set
the glass on the table. "You see why I told you to stay out of
it?"

"I couldn't let him kill that girl, Trevor. Period.
Sorry if that bothers you, but I can't change it. Whatever he does
to me, will be worth it."

He shook his head, then rubbed at his neck.

"You should be thanking me for saving your life as
well." I slumped on the sofa beside him.

He smirked. "Takes more than that to kill me. I'm not
fully human, remember?"

"Well, crap, how am I supposed to know? I didn't get
the new cambion instruction manual."

He took another drink of water.

"You really need to tell me these things. I'm running
around blind, deaf and dumb most of the time. I want to know
everything."

"You're right. I've kept you in the dark thinking I
was protecting you by not telling you anything."

I nodded, satisfied that he agreed with me.

"Ask away."

Biting on my lip, I really had only one question. "I
want to know how to feed without killing someone."

He looked at me for a long moment, then back at the
floor. "I'm afraid I can't teach you that."

"Why not?"

"Because I have no idea how."

"In all these months, you never tried to figure it
out?"

He smirked. "It's not like I could practice on
someone. ‘Oh hey, baby hold still while I try and stop from
sucking the life out of you. Tell me when, okay?'"

He stood and went to the mini fridge. He opened it
and took out two sodas. Coming back to the sofa, he handed me
one.

"So this whole time, you haven't..." I popped the tab
on the can to avoid looking at him, "ah, you know."

He took a sip of his drink. "Nope. You're actually
the first girl I've kissed since."

"Oh." I sipped my soda not sure what to say to that.
Thanks just didn't seem to be appropriate. "Well," I started,
unsure, "We could practice on each other?"

"What?" he stammered, nearly spilling his drink all
over himself. "Are you crazy?"

"Maybe. Been through a lot. Wouldn't surprise me if I
am just a little."

"Just forget about it. It's stupid."

"It's not, Trevor. Think about it. Feeding makes us
stronger. However much I don't want to, I vividly remember how
feeding on Josh made me feel. I was strong, invincible even.
Feeding could make us better equipped to deal with Thane and the
rest of them."

He lifted his soda to his mouth and drained it. After
setting the empty on the table, he looked at me. "Sounds like you
just want to kiss me again."

I jumped to my feet, angry. "You know what? Forget
it." I headed toward the bedroom. "Obviously you don't want to
really do what it takes to end these guys."

I reached the door when he said, "Salem." It was more
of a plea than a statement.

Without turning, I paused, my hand on the door
handle. "What?"

"I'm sorry I said that about kissing me."

I glanced over my shoulder at him. "Don't be. It's
true. I do want to kiss you. When I don't want to punch you in the
nose. And not because I want to feed from you." I turned the knob,
pushed open the door and went in.

I closed it behind me, and locked it. Without
shedding my clothes, I crawled into bed, burying under the covers.
Although I was beyond tired, I knew I wouldn't fall asleep easily.
I had too many things racing around in my head. Like the fact that
I had to report to Thane in the afternoon to do God knew what.
Trevor also raced around in my mind. His face, his voice, the touch
of his hands, the sensation of his lips on mine. And of how much I
wanted to feel that again.

He was a stubborn jerk most times, but that didn't
stop me from falling for him. The realization of that hit me like a
bomb and I rolled onto my back biting down on my tongue to stem the
urge to scream.

I was never going to get to sleep now.

Chapter 23

At half past noon, I knocked on Thane's door. My
hands were shaking and my gut was roiling. I had no idea what to
expect. What he was going to make me do. Frightening scenarios had
plagued my dreams and I'd barely gotten four hours of sleep.

When I'd finally gotten up, I'd found Trevor sitting
on the sofa, hands folded as if waiting for me. I'd expected him to
make a fuss about going. I expected an argument, but he just nodded
to me and told me to be careful. I'd been a little disappointed,
until he said if I wasn't back in two hours he'd come for me. The
way he'd said it sent the butterflies a fluttering.

I knocked again. Harder this time. After a few more
seconds, the door finally opened. Thane was there, rumpled from
sleep, his hair in disarray, shirtless and barefoot. He looked too
normal for the circumstances. It unnerved me.

Yawning, he pulled the door wider for me. "You're
prompt."

I entered, looking around for any sign of danger.
Despite the incubus himself. "I wanted to get this over with."

"Fair enough." He shut the door, bolted it, then
shuffled back to the big bed, dived in and threw the covers over
his head.

I watched him warily. Was this a trick?

"Clean up, while I sleep some more."

After I took in the colossal mess in the room, it
looked like a tornado and hurricane had met and danced for a bit,
then gaped at him. "Seriously?"

"Yeah," he mumbled from under the covers, "You got a
problem with that?"

"Why don't you let housekeeping do it? That's what
they get paid for."

He flipped the blanket off his head, but still had
his eyes closed. He snuggled a pillow to his chest. "Don't be an
idiot. I can't have some maid sniffing around me and my stuff. Who
knows what she'd find."

Exasperated, but truthfully a little relieved that
this was all I had to do, I glanced around taking in the dirty
clothes on the floor, and the empty beer cans and food wrappers on
the tables, and thought it wouldn't be too bad. If this was it, I
would do it without complaint.

But I looked back at Thane and his devilish
appearance and didn't think it would really be that easy.

His eyelids popped open. "Don't just stand there. Get
to work."

I eyed the pair of jeans at my foot and toed them
with my boot. "I'm afraid to touch anything in case I catch
something."

He grinned but it was humorless. "I think you already
caught it, sugar pop."

Disgusted, I turned away from him and started picking
up his clothing scattered all over the place. Jeans, t-shirts,
socks, briefs strewn on just about every piece of furniture and
over every inch of floor. The demon had more clothes then most
girls I knew. It was odd. But it somehow made him more human. And
that I didn't like to think about.

Had he been human once? Did some demon suck out his
soul and make him this way?

I carried his clothes to the closet and dumped them
on top of his two duffel bags. It was too bad he was in the room
because I wanted to rifle through his stuff to see if there was
anything Trevor and I could use against him. He had to have some
kind of weakness. Even Superman had kryptonite. That's what I
needed to find. Thane's green glowing rock of doom.

"You might as well shove them into that black bag.
It'll be a lot easier to carry to the Laundromat that way."

I swirled around to glare at him. "I'm not doing your
damn laundry."

"Sure you are." His eyes bled black. "Or would you
rather I rip out your boyfriend's guts and feed them to Devon?"

I stared at him, my stomach churning, and my heart
pounding. Fear prickled its way up my spine. For a moment, I'd
forgotten how treacherous Thane really was. He was a killer, plain
and simple, and just because he was making me clean his room
instead of tearing me apart, didn't make him any less of one.

He grinned then shut his eyes again. "I thought not.
I like fabric softener."