Darius widened his shoulders a little, satisfied by the reaction he was evoking from Kat. She tried to hide it under a masked expression, but her arousal scented the air.

He slid his shirt off with practiced grace and set it beside him on the bed. When he removed his shoes and socks, Kat’s eyebrow lifted.

“You’ll see,” he said with a smile. At least she didn’t seem threatened by him anymore. Human reactions to seeing an incubus in true form for the first time always varied, but if they were agitated to begin with, it rarely ended well.

He stood and unbuttoned his pants.

“What are you doing?” Kat asked, trying to look anywhere but his crotch.

Darius paused, and when she looked back to him, her cheeks were red.

“I’m not taking them off. I need a little room to grow. Unless you’d like me to remove my pants. I’d be more than happy to.”

The red on her face deepened, and Darius’ incubus side stirred within him, thrilled by her response.

“N-no,” she managed to say, her eyes drifting over his body.

Darius knew it wouldn’t be long before he fed off her. And, gods, did he want to feed. Since the moment he sat on the bed his cock had been half-hard, demanding attention.

“Ready?” he asked.

She nodded, and he held his hands up. The tips of his fingers transformed into small, sharp claws. From the top of his forehead, two horns emerged, black at the base, blending to a royal blue, then lightening to a cream color at the tips. They twisted along the top of his head before curving upwards. As his feet turned into hooves, his body grew a few inches, putting him at just under six feet.

Kat’s eyes went wide as she watched him change. If she was amazed now, she was going to be blown away by this next part…

Making a show of it, Darius allowed his eyes to glow their natural azure color, and the top of his helixes pressed into points, giving his ears an almost elf-like appearance. From behind him, he snaked his tail out of the top of his pants and looped it around his waist a few times.

She stood from the bed, watching his tail’s arrowed tip twitch. “Holy—”

Before she finished, his leathery wings snapped out of his back, expanding across the room as he stretched them. Their color the same as his horns—black fading to a deep blue and finally cream along the highest bone ridges.

“—shit.” She took a small step forward, and Darius retreated a step. She smiled. “You have claws and gigantic wings, and you’re worried about me punching you?”

Darius chuckled. “Fair point.”

She began to walk around him, and he stilled, letting her study him. Enjoying it.

When she had made a full circle, she reached her hand out and stopped short of touching his wing. “Can I…?”

Devil, he wished she would. “You’re welcome to touch me anywhere it pleases you,” he said, letting his voice drop an octave on the ‘anywhere’ so she wouldn’t be confused by his meaning.

Her eyes rolled, but she touched his wing all the same. She pulled away when he fluttered them, then reached back out and ran her hand along the leathery flesh between the bones.

“Incredible.”

“Oh for Pete’s sake,” a gravelly voice said from the doorway. “I leave for three minutes and you’ve already managed to take off half your clothes?”

Darius looked over his shoulder and grinned at Lock. He didn’t think the cowboy had any sense of humor, but it seemed he did.

Kat took a few steps back, and Darius felt deeply disappointed her hand was no longer touching him.

“I’m just joshing the incubus, darlin’. It’s good he’s showing ya what they look like.” Lock rubbed his chin. “There’s a few things I wanted to go over about bein’ a hunter, and I ain’t gonna sugar coat it for you—it’s a hard job and not one you can leave. Once in, you owe the corps thirty years. And if you want your life extended, it’s longer. It ain’t glorious neither. It’s a war and you’re a soldier, one that is expected to follow orders. You’ll kill vamps, lots of ‘em, but most of your time is going to be spent on tedious tasks, like escorting lords like him around—”

Darius wasn’t exactly happy being called a ‘tedious task’. With no small amount of resentment, he forced his body to return to human form and began to redress.

“—or standing guard or sitting your ass out in the freezing cold waiting for a vamp to come along…get the idea?”

“It sucks, I get it,” she said.

“Good. One more thing, one out of every thirty or so incubi gets real big and strong. They’re the warrior class. We fight alongside them. When they’re severely injured, they need sex to heal. It’s one of our duties. If you’re adverse to the idea of fucking them, you can still train as a hunter, but you won’t be stationed anywhere with fighting.”

If Kat was unhappy about the idea, Darius couldn’t tell. But he frowned at the mention of warriors. Growing up in this household—a household full of fighters—he had assumed he would become one. A foolish boyhood fantasy that never came to fruition; incubi couldn’t choose what they became. Of course, that didn’t stop Tane from always reminding him how weak he was by comparison.

Lock, who spoke more words than Darius ever expected to hear from him, continued his speech. “Tomorrow night I’ll take you over to the academy, and you’ll be placed with a cadet team. Your training will begin then.” He handed her a phone. “I’m programmed in there, as is Darius. If you need anything, call.”

“And the runes?” Kat asked. “When do I get them?”

“When you’ve proven you’re a good fit. Lord Darius, would you mind waitin’ outside?”

It took Darius a moment to process the dismissal—by a hunter no less. Lock, even with his standing, didn’t outrank Darius in this situation. It’d be different on a battlefield or if they were facing a security threat, but here, the hunter had no right to dismiss him.

Darius suppressed a growl and forced himself to smile as he met Kat’s eyes. “It was lovely meeting you, Kat. Please do not hesitate to call on me if you have any questions.” He gave her a shallow bow and left the room.

Outside, he huffed and crossed his arms. The hunters standing guard in the hallway took one look at him and decided it was a good time for them to do a patrol sweep elsewhere.

A few minutes later the cowboy emerged, closing the door behind him.

“You better have a good reason for dismissing me,” Darius said.

Lock rubbed his stubbled chin. “Give her a few days before you try to fuck her.”

“I wasn’t going to—” When the hunter commander narrowed his eyes, Darius tried something different: “Maybe she needs comfor—” And when Lock rested his hands on his hips, awfully close to his crossbows, Darius gave up. “Alright, fine.”

“And if I hear you’ve used anything but your charm to get her in bed, I’ll destroy your reputation.”

Darius’ first instinct was to push back at Lock, tell him that there was no way a hunter could ever ruin an incubus of his standing…but that wasn’t true. As one of the High King’s personal guards, the amount of power Lock could wield with just a few words was staggering. But as far as Darius knew, Lock had never ruined anyone. Rosaline had described him as quiet and steady; slow to anger.

“Why do you care so much about her? Do you desire her?” Darius asked, surprised by how raw and needy he sounded.

“No. I’m a happily married man. I don’t step out unless the job requires it. It’s just…she reminds me of someone I used to know is all.”

“Who?” he asked, relieved, and not the least bit concerned about prying. He was, after all, a social incubus.

“Respectfully, my lord, it’s none of your damn business. Now, go feed before you start rubbin’ up on me.”

Darius shouldn’t have allowed himself to get so hungry. And he realized now that his body was releasing pheromones trying to attract prey; that was likely why Lock had kicked him out of the room. He looked longingly at the door—Lock blocking his line of sight—and resisted the urge to bust it down and ravage her.

“Go feed,” the hunter repeated.

“Fine.” Darius spun and stomped away.

* * *

Darius grabbed the hips of a blonde woman sitting in his lap. She grinded her crotch against his suit and his trapped cock pressed against her underwear. Darius could see her lust; it shed off her in an alluring golden light. He began to feed, bringing the sexual energy inside of him but it tasted disgusting.

He pushed the woman out of his lap, and she tumbled onto the floor of a private room in his favorite feeding ground: the nightclub, Veil. She looked up in shock, and a hurt expression crossed her face. Darius pushed a hold on her before she could begin to complain. She sat silently.

Beside him on the couch, Tane, who had already finished feeding and dismissed his food from the room, slipped his dick back into his pants. “What the fuck’s wrong with you tonight?”

“I could ask the same of you. You’ve been in a piss poor mood since we got here.”

Tane ground his teeth. “It’s this new vampire my father’s breaking. He’s obsessed.”

Typically, Darius would pry until he heard the full story but he couldn’t find it in him to give two shits about any vampire right now.

Tane looked at the woman still on the ground. “You don’t want her?”

“No,” Darius said. He knew who he wanted: Kat.

“Good, I’m still hungry.” Darius dropped his hold, and Tane helped the woman up. “I apologize on my friend’s behalf. How about we have some fun instead? My dick is twice as big as his. I guarantee you’ll enjoy it more.”

Darius rolled his eyes. Tane was always so proud of his monstrous cock, even if most human women could only take about half of it into them. But as expected, the woman surrendered to Tane’s kiss.

Tane broke away for a moment. His eyes flashed purple at Darius. “Join.”

“No thanks.”

“Feed or I’ll fuck you. I’m sick of smelling your pheromones.”

Darius growled at him.

The asshole loved throwing his weight around. He was, after all, a warrior. Stronger, faster, more aggressive. Physically he was a near duplicate of the Lord General, with a strong jaw, broad shoulders, dark blond hair, and the same deep blue eyes in his human form. It was a shame Tane possessed none of his father’s class, presence, or poise.

Darius found it amazing that Tane even had friends with the way he treated people. Darius only tolerated the guy because they were the same age and had been raised together—it was expected of them to get along.

“Fine, you fuck her, and I’ll feed,” Darius said.

Tane pulled the woman into his lap. Darius got up and stood behind her. He leaned in to kiss her neck, and fed for a few moments, his insides twisting with disgust. Nauseous, he broke away and left the room. Tane yelled something but Darius couldn’t hear the words over the loud, pounding music, nor did he care.

He needed to get out of here. Needed to see Kat again. Hunter Commander Lock could go screw himself.