"Why does it matter? I can't die of starvation, can I?""No. You cannot. But you can experience pain, and there is no need for that. It will not change anything. So eat. Please."It wouldn't make me feel better, but it would make him feel better, so I sat up feeling groggy and lethargic. The smell of the coffee on the tray turned my stomach topsy-turvy. I caught one sight of the eggs and knew I was going to vomit.I jumped out of bed, pushed past Alexis, and ran to the bathroom, barely making it to the toilet before I vomited. Ran and Alexis came into the bathroom while I was heaving."What's wrong?" Ran asked."She got sick." Alexis bent down and rubbed my back. "I tried to tell you that you will experience the same discomfort that you did as a human.""I know," I grumbled. When I felt strong enough to stand, Alexis gave me a cup of water to rinse my mouth then he carried me back to bed.I averted my eyes from the sight of the eggs. "Get rid of those please," I croaked. "The sm

"Why do you two insist on giving this entity gender?" Alexis asked. "Your Succubus is a non-living thing. It has never lived except through you.""If she lived through me and I'm female, then she probably self-identifies as female," I said. "Wouldn't that make sense?"Alexis scowled.I moved toward her. I was scared, but she was scared, too. She tried to escape, but unless she went through the wall, there was no escape.It's okay. Just…don't do that again. I held up my hands as if trying to calm a frightened animal. I wasn't sure if I could talk to her without words, but if I could do it with my minion, then I certainly should be able to do it with my own Succubus.How? she asked.I understood the question!How were we separated and not able to merge?This place gives me the power to be both human and spirit but not in the same body, I explained.Satisfied with the response, she stopped huddling into herself. I will not hurt you again. She tentatively moved toward me. One of h

When I opened my eyes, I saw him lying with his head on the pillow next to me, one of his legs still thrown over mine, his hands cupped along the bottom of my breasts. He watched me with such intensity that I turned in bed and looked into his eyes, seeing the swirls of golden brown, a bit of jade, and the blacks that were only beginning to recede."I love you," he said simply.I knew he loved me, but my heart…it caught in my chest. The way he looked at me, the way he said it, so simply. This man, this ancient, powerful being loved…me.I reached out and placed my hand on his cheek."I love you." I looked into his eyes, through what made up this body knowing that he wasn't only this—we weren't only this. We were so much more. What we were surpassed a physical form. We were spirits and creatures and eternity. We were forever. I shuddered when it all came to me. Alexis and I were eternity.He sighed and released a breath that he seemed to have been holding for years.He smiled.

Over the next few days, Oni and I became even closer as I struggled to find myself. In the process, she began to develop her own personality. She and Ran came over often, and we all spent time trying to coax new words out of her. She stayed with Ran in his new house because he blurted out in embarrassment that he was her food. Ran liked his new house, and I liked that I didn't have to hear him "feeding" her. Oni obviously wanted him as much as he wanted her. They held hands so tightly, as if they were afraid Oni would turn into a puff of smoke and disappear.To pass the time, Alexis and I spent hours talking about our lives. Because we weren't exactly Vampires, I could no longer share his memories, but we talked about history, and through him history began to unfold before me.I was most interested in his memories of being turned into a Vampire. I appreciated that he didn't try to shield me from his infatuation with Athena. I wasn't jealous, but it made my heart ache for him as he

Time was relative at the beach. Some days we spent hours trying to teach new words to Oni. Sometimes Alexis and I marveled at the beauty of the sun as it reflected off the ocean's waves or slowly set into the horizon. As my stomach grew, Alexis made me long flowing dresses. I would catch him staring at me as if he was searching for a glimpse inside of my soul. Whenever I saw him staring at me so intensely, I would remember the way I used to stare at Paul at the end, wanting to say more to him than I was allowed. The ache for what Paul and I had lost still remained, but it didn't cripple me. Even though our supernatural bonds had been severed, my human ones were still present.I still loved Paul, maybe I always would, but I didn't want to be with him anymore. I didn't blamed him for not ending his alliance with the Wolfpack. Hell, I couldn't even blame him for not rejecting Sasha and her baby. But I could never forgive him for not making me his Lupa, something that could have changed