As the elevator opened, Donovan and Draven walked out both looking around for me. I had transported myself down. Plus side to being a demon, no more elevators. Granted, when I landed down here I fell and scraped my knee. I would have to work on being more graceful, can’t look like a badass when you’re falling on your ass all the time.

“Either of you know where this place that he was talking about is?” I knew absolutely nothing about this area so I was out. I was directionally challenged anyway so there was no way I was getting us anywhere. Hell, as I was trying to find the SUV, Donovan had to turn me around because I went the wrong direction. One of these days, I was gonna work on that. Today was not that day though, so I followed behind them. I could say that was the only reason, but damn they did have nice asses.

“It's only a ten minute drive. I have it pulled up on my phone.” Donovan said to me, which broke me out of my dirty thoughts. He held up his phone that had a tiny map on it. It might as well have been in a foreign language because I didn’t have a clue what it was telling me.

“Lead the way then. What are you thinking about Canio?” I asked making conversation, and secretly hoping to know if they thought less of me after all that he had said. I nervously waited for their response knowing that if they answered with disgust or pity I would be devastated. I may not have known them long, but I knew that their opinions mattered to me no matter how much I wished they didn’t.

“What he did was extremely fucked up. He is lucky we need him or I would have tore him to shreds. I get why he did it, but he definitely should have went about it a totally different way. I mean he completely ruined your life. Now you have to learn to be this thing that no one even knew existed. I still like you though, either way, and want to stick around for as long as you will let me.” Draven said opening the door to the SUV for me. I looked at him to say thank you and that I needed to hear that when he stole my breath by kissing me right there in the parking garage. It was once again way shorter than I would have liked, but we did have places to be. And with that kiss he proved that he accepted me for who I was and didn't care that I was also in lust with the others.

“I am glad you feel that way. I would like to keep you all around if I can, and I still haven't figured out how I feel about the whole demon thing.” I said back as I started to climb in the passenger seat only to have Donovan stop the door from shutting. Grabbing hold of my waist, Donovan turned me around to face him.

“I feel the same way as Draven. I liked you before you became a demon and I still like you now.” Donovan declared, then kissed me. These sudden kisses were phenomenal and something I could grow used to. I hate to admit it, but it really did make me feel better about the whole I-am-now-a-demon situation. He broke the kiss and shut my door only to slide in behind my seat and the SUV took off.

“I think the best thing for us to do is scope the place out first. Then decide what is the best way to go in. I am pretty sure that there will be demons that I am gonna have to fight. I need to do this on my own though so just keep the others off so it is one on one if it comes down to that.” I stated as confidently as I possibly could, because on the inside I was a giant mass of nerves.

“We will do whatever you need us to do.” Donovan countered from the back seat. I looked over to see that Draven was also nodding his head in agreement. Man, having their unwavering support made me feel a lightness in me I had never had before, and never thought I would get. Once this case was over, I just hoped that they wouldn’t leave me. I knew if that happened that I would be completely and utterly crushed. Which just so happened to be the reason that I tried unsuccessfully to keep my distance.

The rest of the short ride was done in silence as each of us were lost in our own thoughts. We finally pulled on the side of the road across from the tattoo parlor. If you didn't know any better you would never know that it was apparently a nesting ground for demons. It was a lone grey building. You could see all of the neon signs through the front windows.I could see people coming in and out, but honestly none of them looked like a threat. You would think that demons would have some kind of symbol that said “Demon here” or some shit.

“We should just go through the front door, I wanna get this over with, but I also want to avoid a huge brawl if at all possible. So we are gonna walk in there like we own the place and hope we look like we belong. ” I was so uptight right now I honestly had no idea what I wanted. I just knew that either way, this was something I had to do. Then I could put all my focus into finding the missing children.

“Alright. We will be right behind you watching your back.” Donovan touched my shoulder before getting out of the SUV. Taking a deep breath, I climbed out and started to walk across the street. I could feel myself being propelled towards the shop. It was probably one of the strangest feelings I had ever felt, but I couldn't stop myself even if I had wanted to. I could feel a dark vibe coming from the shop, like it was vibrating through my body. Hmm... demon calls to demon. Luckily, I trusted the guys behind me with my life and knew that they would protect me from whatever we had to face. Which if I was being honest with myself was a super weird feeling because I had never felt that way about anyone.

Opening the door, everyone's head turned towards us. All of their eyes gleamed red, and I knew that this was gonna be fun. I was so on edge. There was one lone woman in the shop who stood when I walked in. She had long flowing red hair that reminded me of blood. I stilled completely when our eyes met, and before I knew it I was standing in front of her even though I didn't remember moving. I was honestly shocked that no one had tried to attack, because that was what I had been waiting for. The woman in front of me pinned them all with a look before settling her gaze on me. This must either be a neutral place or the woman was even more powerful than I thought.

“You are gonna have to work on your control. We don't teleport in public, ever. You must be the new demon that everyone keeps talking about. I wonder how it is that you came to be in my shop? Canio must still be out there somewhere.” She said while walking around me with her hand trailing across my shoulders. It was very invasive, but for some reason I felt stuck there. I could feel the tingles that her hand sent down my body, which did nothing but completely confuse the shit out of me. I had never been attracted to women, what in the world was going on with me? Draven and Donovan moved in closer, so close that I could feel their arms touching my sides.

“It's hard to work on control when you have no idea what is going on or what you can do. It's not like this came with a handbook. Canio told me that you would be here and might be able to help me.” I sounded pissy, but the confusion coursing through my system made me lash out. I was beginning to think that coming here was not the best idea. Now I was worried that I wouldn't be able to get the green eyed she-demon out of my head. Feeling the guys behind me helped, but I still felt drawn to her for whatever reason and I wasn't sure how I felt about that.

“He sent you to the right place. I will do what I can to help you. There are so very few of us females that we need to stick together. It took me two hundred years to be able to walk around without the males either drooling all over me or trying to beat me into submission. So I will teach you things that will keep that from happening to you. I can tell already that we are going to be good friends.” She once again invaded my personal space to grab my hand and started leading me to the back of the shop. As quick as I could, I reached out and latched onto Donovan's hand. I wanted to make sure that no matter what, until I knew what was going on, that I wasn’t alone with her. I could hear the tattoo guns buzzing as we moved past the doors to wherever it was that she was taking us. Finally coming up to a big red door, she let go of my hand and opened it for us.

“We can discuss everything in here without having everyone's eyes on us.” I guess she thought she needed to explain why she brought us back here. Walking into the room, it was way bigger than I had expected. It looked like a training room. There were blue mats all over the floors and padding on parts of the walls. I didn't know whether to be impressed or a touch worried because she had brought us in here. Why did I keep just letting her lead me around? I was gonna have to make sure to try to keep my distance from now on so that I could think with a semi-level head.

Stopping in the middle of the room, she looked at me and said, “I was like you once, tricked into becoming something I knew nothing about. The only difference was that I was alone. However, I learned quickly that I had to figure out my abilities and learn to fight. Until I did I was forced to submit a few times before I figured out how to defend myself. The first thing that you need to know is that you are in a semi-demonic state. You have not unlocked all of your powers yet, and if I were you, I would try to keep it that way. I killed a man by accident and that is what unlocked my full succubus powers. There are many different types of demon that you could turn out to be, but it’s best to try to stay away from doing things that could unlock your powers completely. I have some blood ink here that will help you conceal your identity from others of our kind, so that is the first thing I recommend doing. Then we will see the extent of your powers that you have. I think with just a bit of practice you will be able to control everything.” She walked around the mats on the floor to open a secret section of the wall that held a tattoo gun and what looked like blood all around it.

The thought of getting a tattoo that had someone else’s blood in it freaked me out, but if it would conceal me from others, then I was so down for it. I looked at the guys to judge their reactions to what she had just said, worried that the strangeness of the situation may have gotten to them. Draven just shot me a toothy grin, I loved when he let his fangs be out. I am not sure why I thought it was so sexy. Donovan must have not minded either, because he was examining my body like he was trying to find the best place to put the tattoo. I knew if it was left up to him, it would end up in a place that I probably didn't want it. Seriously though, I didn’t want to find out what happened when you came across a demon who was strong enough to make you submit.

“Um. I don’t know about all of this. How do I know you can be trusted? Why did you just give me so much information about your kind? What do you get from helping me? Can I at least pick the design? Or does it have to be some kind of rune or magical thing? I think we should work on my control before we do something as permanently altering as a tattoo.” Just as I got those words in, the training room door slammed open. All of us instantly turned to see who had opened the door in such a violent manner, with both of the guys stepping in front of me to block me from view. Luckily, I was able to see through them. I think there was three men standing in the doorway. It was hard to tell though because the guy standing in the middle of the wall where the door was supposed to be was bulky enough to hide the other men's bodies. So all I saw was two heads on the other side of his.

“What do we have here Alyanna? A little birdie told me that you were here trying to keep the new girl to yourself?” Bulky guy said with a voice so low and gravelly that it honestly scared the shit out of me. I had a feeling this was not a guy that I wanted to fight with. However, I would be no one’s bitch. So if it came down to it I would take him on too.

“Bael, how nice of you to come see me. I was just talking to these men about training. I don't know who told you that the new demon girl was here but they were mistaken.” I was very confused when she said this, because I was standing right here. I mean, surely he could see me.

She is using her powers on you to mask your essence. Can you not feel it? Vita spoke to me, making me jump. Now that she mentioned it though, I could feel a touch of a tingle all over my body. Draven and Donovan just stood there staring at the men. I wasn't sure if they could even see me.

“What new girl are you talking about? I thought we were going to have a training session?” Donovan said while moving closer to Alyanna. I knew he was just playing along, but the thought of him touching her pissed me off. I had to close my eyes and breathe because the last thing I wanted to do was give myself away and end up having to fight these guys. I could feel the menace oozing off of them from all the way over here. It was extremely unnerving.

“My minions don’t usually lie to me Alyanna, but if you want to play with your toys, I will leave you to it. Just remember if you ever decide you want a real man again, you know where to find me.” With those parting words, they were gone. Just poof - disappeared. I wonder if that's what it looked like when I teleported. Though I did know, without a doubt, that I was getting that tattoo as soon as possible.

“Yeah so I think I want that tattoo now.” I blurted out as Draven walked over to the door and set it over the hole that it was supposed to cover. I wrapped myself in my arms, wishing the feeling of evil would leave me.

“What the hell was he? I have never felt that much evil coming from one person.” Draven stated. His vampire marks flaring to life more with every word. He made his way over to me and pulled me into his embrace. I felt Donovan slide his arms around me to. It was a Gwen sandwich and I was so totally okay with it. I don't know if they could sense that I needed it or not, but either way I was so content. Yup, I was fucked.

“That was Bael. He is one of the most powerful dukes of the underworld, and if he finds you as you are now, you will be his.” Well fuck. She totally could have eased into that, but instead she just blasted it out. That was not how I wanted this meeting to go.