“Tina…is a succubus?”

The elderly woman now sitting with her granddaughter perched on her knee was paper white and had been since the blond started his explanation. Not that I could blame her, any sane person would have difficulty swallowing this information.

If I hadn’t been immersed in magic and at least halfway insane thanks to the bizarre shit that came from it, I’d be just as confused. However, I wasn’t surprised, thus I was free to focus past the oddness of the situation onto the more important aspects.

“You say that your people don’t have to go into dreams to feed, but if that’s the case then how do you stay alive?” I asked, head spinning from it all. How much of the myths were wrong in regards to incubi?

He went to answer, only for Mrs. Birchwood to swivel her head in my direction, wide desperate eyes locked to me. “You can’t believe what this man is saying?! He has to be lying, my Tina can’t be some kind of demon.”

Well, the kid sure didn’t look like something hell itself spat out, though I’d been told children without their naps could quickly take on the title of hell spawn. Shrugging, I answered.

“Ma’am, I’ve seen too many odd things in my life to completely discount anything. Besides, when I saved your granddaughter he used powers that would back up his claim.” Though what all he could do, I still wasn’t sure. I’d be asking that later, make no mistake.

Mrs. Birchwood didn’t drop her look of fear and I heaved a sigh internally. How were we going to prove that this was real? I doubt the blond using his power would end well. If anything that’d terrify her more, but the only other option was for me to cast a spell and I really didn’t want to do that.

I still have the magical council on my ass from the last time a prosaic saw me using magic. Didn’t matter that it’d happened over forty years ago, old bastards held a grudge like no one’s business…

If it got to their ears that I’d revealed the existence of magic there’d be even more trouble brewing. Not that I was really afraid of that, hell I’d been in the shit with them since the day my magic presented itself, but their constant meddling was supremely irritating.

If at all possible I’d prefer to avoid the entire situation and as long as my magic didn’t come to light then that’d be easy-.

“Mrs. Birchwood, the lady to whom you are speaking has the ability to cast magic at will. While I cannot showcase my powers to prove my claims, surely if you could believe witches are real, an incubus would not be out of the realm of possibility.”

Son of a diseased whore he had not just done that!

Swinging around to level a poisonous glare on him, I seethed internally.

I hadn’t given him permission to out me! Would he have liked it if I walked around announcing his heritage? No, because it was rude, not to mention dangerous.

Temper rising to boil in my veins, I snarled through gritted teeth. “If you could refrain from announcing my ‘well-kept secret’ from now on without my permission, that would be great.”

He blinked, taken aback, before a small frown tugged across his lips. “Apologies, I did not think. I will be sure to do better in the future, though in this particular situation it would be easier if you were to show her your magic. Mine would be considerably more problematic, as you felt earlier.”

Yeah having a little old lady creaming herself and humping his leg would make this fifty two flavors of awkward, though Mrs. Birchwood probably wouldn’t have too bad of a time…

While I was still miffed about him outing me, I let it go. I could be irritated with him later, he had a point that my magic was better suited for this. With that in mind, I turned my focus back to the woman who looked ready to hyperventilate.

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Before she’d seemed almost at ease with my presence–a rarity to be sure–but now she eyed me with open fear. I mourned the sight as familiar prejudice began forming. It wasn’t surprising though. People feared what they didn’t understand and few people understood magic, even if they were born to my world. Heck I’d lived with magic almost my entire life and sometimes I still couldn’t quite grasp it.

Getting it over with, I held up a hand. “I’m a mage, though probably not the type that comes to mind when you think of the term. If I show you a spell, will you believe what he’s saying? At least that it’s possible.”

She pursued her lips, then nodded. “Alright, but only because you saved Tina. What kind of spell will you be casting?”

A green tint colored her face, announcing the unease below the surface even as a jaded amusement slid through me. She had no reason to worry, I couldn’t cast an attack spell if my life depended on it. But she had no way of knowing that, so I held out my hand palm up and whispered. “Celare.”

Just like before, magic crawled out to wrap around me, though this time it stayed focused on my hand. From the tips of my fingers down to my wrist, the skin became see through and the girls gasped.

Tina reached out, gripping my fingers and making a noise of surprise when she felt them. “They’re still there!”

I nodded, the innocent curiosity helping to ease the tension of the room. “Yup, it just makes them invisible.”

The blond hummed, watching the display with open fascination. “So this is what you did back in the clearing?” I nodded and he continued. “Fascinating.”

His eyes bore into me, the honey gaze bearing the weight of the world even as it sparked with interest. The intense focus made my stomach flip as awareness crawled up my spine. Shoving the odd reaction to the side, I shrugged.

“It’s a basic spell. If you ever meet a Spectrum mage, they can show you what a real illusion looks like. This just meets the needs I have.” And is within the range of my abilities. Never an easy barrier to work around for me.

Putting the usual irritation with my magic type to the side, I let the spell fall as Mrs. Birchwood nodded shakily. “That…most definitely proves this is possible. Though I'm still having difficulty believing it.”

More than fair, considering her entire world was being flipped on its head. While the realization that sex demons were a thing was a bit shocking to me, it wasn’t world altering. Patting the woman’s shoulder, I offered what little comfort I could.

“That’s normal. You’ll have time to really get used to it though. For now, I have questions of my own, one of which I still need answered.”

Though it wasn’t the blond’s fault we’d gotten distracted. Mrs. Birchwood needed to be calmed and now that it was out of the way, we could get back to the answers I wanted.

He visibly thought back to what the question was, before nodding. “Quite right, you asked how we feed? The answer is simple, just as the myths say. We feed on lust.”

Like a shot, Mrs. Birchwood was out of her chair, backing away with Tina clasped to her chest while eyeing both of us warily. Her tone dripped with fury as she spat like a hellcat. “You will not be touching my Tina in such a way.”

I tensed, waiting to see how this would turn out. Something told me the blond hadn’t meant it like that and if his look of disgust was any indication, my feeling was right.

He raised a hand, dipping his head in apology as he continued. “No, I will not and neither will anyone else while she is here. No child should ever feel the revulsion of having someone force themselves upon them.”

Relaxing now that I knew things wouldn’t be taking a disgusting turn, I watched as Mrs. Birchwood sat back down, some of her ire fading as I asked.

“Alright, that’s a relief, but then how do you feed off lust without having anything to do with the act itself? And how do children feed?”

The blond turned to me, a serious expression settling over his face. “Children do not feed, not until they reach puberty. Then they can pull energy from either direct or indirect feeding. The direct route is from contact and usually ends in sex, but the indirect route is one I invented myself for those who are uncomfortable with such things.”

Okay, now we were getting somewhere. Sitting up straighter, I prodded. “Indirect? I assume that means no touching required. How would that work though?”

He smiled, though the edges were a bit stiff. “Should you wish it, I will show you the indirect method after we see to Mrs. Birchwood. It is the only method I feed with. Seeing it for yourself should answer at least a few of your questions.”

I nodded and he returned his attention to the older woman. “You have no reason to fear. Tina will not need to feed for many years, but you will need to be careful of her aura. It will attract unsavory types who seek to harm her. Or worse.”

Leaning back against the wall, I watched as he explained in detail what kind of things Tina would be dealing with growing up. His voice rumbled into a deep, rolling background noise as I considered the new information.

So they had more than one way to feed and neither of them required going into dreams, interesting. At some point, I’d need to ask him about what kind of abilities he had, but for now we needed to focus on Tina and getting her settled. After that…the real fun started.