"And your brother does? Come on, I can recognize utter hatred when I see it."
"Did you know this was going to happen?" he asked, deflecting the subject.
She narrowed her eyes, but allowed it. "I knew something was off inside me. My senses went haywire a few weeks ago."
"That's common for transitioning halflings."
"I told my dad about it. He said I needed to avoid a trigger, but didn't tell me what it was. He hinted that my mom was an immortal, but again, wouldn't tell me what kind."
"A trigger? It must have been when you and Will had sex."
She whipped her head up. "We didn't. Not all the way. We just fooled around."
Differently than they had yesterday? Oh. Munro could deduce what the trigger had been. She'd . . . fed for the first time.
Judging by Chloe's blushing, she'd deduced it as well. "Your father dinna tell you no' to be with men . . . that way? I would think he'd do anything to keep you from turning."
"He probably didn't think he had anything to worry about. I never had much interest in guys."
"I see. It's no' unheard of for a halfling's powers or . . . appetites to be dormant until some catalyst. I've heard of a human halfling becoming a Valkyrie after a lightning strike."
"I had no idea about any of that. Dad just plopped the Book of Lore in my lap and took off on a business trip. He told me we'd talk when he returned. He . . . he never did. His phone was disconnected." Her voice wavered, which clearly aggravated her. "The next thing I know, I've got Lore creatures in my house and I'm getting kidnapped."
"I'm sorry, Chloe." Munro couldn't even imagine her confusion and fear. Again that protectiveness surged within him. "Considering his hatred of immortals, your father probably believed his actions merciful."
She shrugged, feigning indifference. "So spill about succubae. Give it to me straight. I'm a big girl."
He only had vague reports from others to draw from, and his brother's bitter recollections of Ruelle. "You're a cambion-a human and succubus halfling, which makes you part of the Ubus Peoples. They hail from the Ubus Realm, located on a hidden plane. Males are incubi, females are succubae. No' much is known about your kind. Some say males can fly and females can turn invisible. All we know for certain is that your species draws nourishment from a partner's sexual release."
"So when MacRieve called me a seed-feeder, was that . . . literal?"
Munro pulled at his collar, as uncomfortable with this as she clearly was. It was like explaining the birds and the bees-to his brother's mate. "Some say there's a mystical energy with release, and your species can convert it to a life force." Could this be any more awkward? "In that case, seed could be just an attractant of sorts, kind of the icing on the . . ." He trailed off. "Any metaphor I come up with at this point is just going to sound perverted."
Her cheeks flushed even brighter red. "I get it."
"Others say, well, that the physical, uh, result is what gets converted." He coughed into his fist. "I do know it can be from intercourse or oral sex." Will had once revealed that though Ruelle could feed both ways, she'd never deigned to perform oral sex and had no interest in it herself.
"How often do I have to do that? Months? Weeks?"
"Since you're young, you'll need it more often. I'd guess every day. Mayhap every other."
Her face paled. "That much?" she cried. "What happens if I don't?"
"For a cambion, I doona rightly know. But for a succubus, the longer she goes, the more intense her desire for a male grows. By a certain point, she becomes mindless and animalistic with need." Like the succubae who'd stalked Will, intent on raping him.
Gods, mayhap this was far too much to ask of him.
"Great. Anything else?"
"If you have intercourse with the same male more than three times, you can bind him to you, envenoming him-"
"Like venom out of fangs?" She was aghast.
"No, no, it's a mystical bond. Once that tie is formed, he'll sicken without you." He recalled Will rocking in his bed, covered in sweat. "I understand that it's like heroin withdrawal, but it never gets better."
She gave him an incredulous look. "Then why would anyone have sex with a succubus in the first place?"
"You're bonny. And you can emit chemicals that make males crazed. It's called strewing."
"How do I emit them?"
"From what I understand, it comes from your verra breath. It's scentless, so it's impossible to detect until the result is felt. Even an unwilling male would find it difficult to resist, if no' impossible. Mated males are thought to be immune."
She stopped. "So my new feeding m.o. is to roofie men, then get them hooked on me like heroin, so they'll keep coming back to the dealer? That's just messed up."
He couldn't disagree. He remained silent, giving her time to work through all the angles.
"I'm going to be dependent on guys, really dependent on them, for the rest of my life?" She looked like she was about to be sick. More to herself, she said, "I was making a great living. I had my future planned out." Another group passed them, casting her hesitant looks. "What are you gawking at?" she snapped.
Munro told her, "News spreads fast around here, I'm afraid."
"Well, they need to keep their eyes in their heads."
Before, she'd appeared woeful. With each second that she grew accustomed to all these surprises, her expression grew more mutinous.
Succubae were known to be fawning. They coaxed and beguiled men wherever they went. Chloe looked like she was on the verge of head-butting unsuspecting bystanders.
Munro tilted his head, a flare of hope rising. This female acted like a wee bruiser. She'd made a living as a professional athlete, about the least likely career Munro could imagine for a succubus.
His own innate wariness toward her was fading. Just because she was a halfling succubus didn't mean she'd be anything like Ruelle.
There was a spark in Chloe's eyes, a toughness in her demeanor that was so radically different from Munro's memories of that other creature, so different from any succubae he'd encountered over his long life.
Which meant Munro still believed her a fitting match for Will.
"What about pregnancy?" she asked.
"Full succubae have a few cycles of fertility in a year. I doona know what will happen with you. There's a soothsayer we can contact to determine more, but it will likely take time."
"I'm going to wake up, and this will all be a bad dream." She rubbed her temples. "Is there any upside here?"
"You're immortal now. You could live forever."
"Live forever as an out-of-work, roofie-dispensing, drug-dealing skank? If that's my upside . . ."
"You'll be stronger. You'll regenerate from any wound. Other than decapitation, of course."
She perked up. "Stronger?"