Chapter 56

Julia

As crazy as it might seem, the demon realm was likely the safest place for Beatrice until her brother was caught. It wasn’t that the demon realm was that hard for preternatural creatures to enter, so much as it was hard to maneuver. Unless you were a fallen angel or a demon of some sort, you could easily get lost, and there were many places you did not want to wander into. The idea of searching for a witch there also wouldn’t occur to most. I stared down at my phone, trying to decide who I should call before settling on Allie. She was the least likely to threaten to kill me over a late night call.

“Hello,” Allie answered groggily.

“Hey, Allie,” I began. “Sorry for waking you up, but I need your help.”

“Are you okay?” Allie asked. In the background, I heard Sam’s complaints about being woken up, followed by Dylan’s curse. If I had to guess, Sam had just dug his claws into Dylan. While adorable and generally sweet-tempered, Sam didn’t handle being woken up very well.

“I’m fine, but it’s been one hell of a night,” I replied with a weary sigh.

“I suppose it has if you’re calling me at three in the morning,” she stated. When Sam began to meow loudly, Allie scolded him. “That’s enough, Sam. Dylan has an early conference call, so his alarm was going to wake us all up in fifteen minutes, anyway.” Her attention returned to the call. “Sorry about that, but you know how Sam is.”

“Yes, I do,” I agreed. “I wouldn’t have called you at this hour if it weren’t important.”

“You know I’m always here for you,” she assured me. “What do you need?”

“I need to hide someone in the demon realm,” I began before giving her a brief rundown of the council meeting and what Beatrice had revealed about her brother. I finished when I got to the part about Beatrice being at Gryph’s house.

“This might be a good solution for you, too,” Allie suggested when I was done with my explanation.

“No,” I replied without hesitation. “Bliss is still a new business, and you can’t handle all of our clients on your own. If we start letting people down, our business could fail. I won’t let that happen.”

“Your life is a lot more important than our business,” she argued.

“Fine. There’s more to it than me not wanting to leave you alone at Bliss,” I admitted.

“Like what?” she asked.

“What if Desmond decides to go after you to get even with me when I’m not around?” I asked, wondering why we hadn’t considered that.

“It’s always possible,” she agreed. “That’s why Dylan has been working in the extra office at Bliss so often, especially when I’m there without you and Gryph.”

While I’d noticed Dylan was there more often, it hadn’t occurred to me it was to protect Allie.

“There’s another reason I don’t want to leave,” I admitted.

“Could this reason have something to do with a certain werewolf and the many rumors flying around about you performing a bonding ceremony with him?” she asked.

“I still can’t believe that happened,” I told her. This was the first time I’d discussed it with anyone other than Gryph or my father.

“Do you regret it?” she asked hesitantly, and I knew she was worried about Gryph’s feelings.

“No,” I assured her. “I don’t regret that or letting Gryph bite me.”

“Why did he bite you?” she asked before adding, “Is this just some kinky sex thing he’s into?”

“It’s a werewolf thing,” I explained. “When they claim their mate, they bite them. It’s supposed to leave a scar.”

“Ouch!” she exclaimed, and I could picture her cringing. “That must have really hurt.”

“It did, but it was also wonderful,” I admitted. “I didn’t realize how much magic werewolves possess before I started getting closer to Gryph.”

“They’d have to be powerful to contain two souls without losing their minds,” Allie added. “Even demons and shades can go insane if they share a body with another for too long.”

“Have you ever wondered why that doesn’t happen with familiars?” I asked. It had always bothered me, but no one could explain how the two souls merged into one with familiars. A soul was created by magic and added to an unborn animal in most cases.

“Maybe it’s got to do with the soul being created by witches,” Allie suggested. “I tried asking one of my professors in school how it was done since his family was involved in that field, but he refused to tell me. I guess it’s some big secret they don’t share with anyone.”

“That’s really annoying,” I said on a sigh before continuing. “Sorry for getting off topic. It’s hard to stay focused when I’m this tired.”

“It’s fine,” she assured me. “I’m not going to hold it against you.”

“Do you have any suggestions on where we could hide Beatrice?” I asked.

“I may have an idea,” Allie began hesitantly. “It would involve her staying with my family. Do you think that would be a problem?”

Staying with Allie’s family in the demon realm meant staying with succubi. I didn’t have much experience with any succubi other than Allie. Succubi were perfectly capable of coming up with their own fantasies, so they didn’t come to Bliss for help. From my understanding, Allie’s family made her uncomfortable at times. I honestly didn’t know Beatrice well enough to say how she’d react. For all I knew, she could be one of those witches who believed her power was stronger if she remained pure. The Virgin Witch movement was currently popular among young witches, much to the dismay of young warlocks.

“I can check with her in a little while to see if she’d be okay staying with your family,” I replied. “She went upstairs to shower. Are you sure one of your relatives will agree to let her stay with them?”

“I’m positive I could get one of them to take her in. My cousin, Delilah, would be the best choice,” Allie mused. “She shared an apartment with me while attending a human college, so she’s a little better at reining in her succubus side than most. If she says no, I’ll ask my grandmother and hope she doesn’t try to drag Beatrice off to an orgy.”

“Maybe you could tell everyone Beatrice is a virgin witch so they don’t try to involve her in anything that might make her uncomfortable,” I suggested.

Allie snorted at my suggestion. “You’re suggesting that because I’m the only succubus you’ve spent time around. Telling them she’s a virgin witch would only make her seem like a challenge. The poor girl would wake up with an incubus in her bed every night. What am I saying? It would be a miracle if it was only one incubus.”

I giggled at the image. “Your succubus family certainly is entertaining.”

“That’s one way to describe them,” she muttered. “As much as I love my family, I’m glad they don’t come for visits too often.”

“The shower just turned off, so I should be able to talk to Beatrice soon,” I began. “I’ll text you to confirm she’s okay with all this.”

“I’ll call Delilah. If Beatrice isn’t comfortable staying with my family, we can always figure something else out, but I may as well start arranging things on my end now,” she stated.

“Thanks, Allie. I really appreciate your help.”

“Any time,” she assured me before ending the call.