I rip it out and grit my teeth in irritation as they near. "Ow! That was so rude!"

"There you go, Ni. It's just like fighting me in bed." Steven smiles at me and my stomach does a triple loop de loop. Did he get even hotter?

I realize my wings and claws have sprung out in my rage as self preservation instincts come to life. "So we have to kill them, right?"

"No, dummy. We have to seduce them." He smirks and rockets up into the air faster than I can process that.

I barely know how any of my powers work yet since I sat in bed crying all last night, but apparently, I'm about to get a hands on crash course.

They're basically upon us now, so in a split second decision I lift into the air too. Wind rushes past my ears and I watch Steven, so stoic and sexy as all Hell. I wanna jump his bones so badly but unfortunately, I've gotta get my hands dirty first.

The words of my mom echo in my mind of her reading me stories about succubi finding their power. "They find weakness and latch onto it when they're forced to fight, and then they feed off the energy."

"But Mommy, that sounds mean!"

"Well, Connie. Sometimes you have to be a little mean to get your point across."

With all of the confusion boiling into anger inside me, I can definitely find the strength to be mean. But, as gracefully as possible. "Hello, there!" I call out to them. "Is there something we can help you with?"

It's unnerving how much albasters look like humans. There's no wings or defining features save for those cold eyes. "No. But it looks like you two are in need of help only we can provide."

"Doubt it," Steven chuckles and shoves his hands into his pockets. "But we're open to suggestions."

That power. The confidence has always been there, but there's something irresistible about him now. I almost ask if we should just run off and find somewhere to fuck but the albaster laughs.

"Don't get any ideas, Kin of Lucifer. We know you want out, we know what you did." The woman grins wickedly.

I turn to see Stevens cheeks lose a bit of color. "We don't need to get into all that."

His voice wavers a bit and it sparks something within me. A 'this will not continue' feeling that has me sizing these rats up carefully. One of them is femme presenting, blonde and as pretty as a porcelain doll. She looks fairly innocent, which tells me she has a wild side. But I don't have power over women, I have power over... the other one. Dark skinned, even more so than mine. The guys got a head so bald the sun glints off of it. He's handsome, but nothing compared to us. His perfect white suit is undirtied and unwrinkled. They're stand side by side, almost identically posed. Hmm... they're awfully close as well, almost touching which seems weird for a species completely against most forms of contact. It's not just two people standing next to each other at a bus stop, it's a husband and wife with eyes that tell you they were just up to no good.

I look up at Steven and he tugs his gaze away from them, smirking at me.

"All business and no talk?" I let myself drop to the sand and try to focus my mind on their energies. It's thick and mucous-y against me but I put on a pretty smile. "Well, that's no fun."

"We aren't here for fun." He's unmoved by my flirting, but that won't stop me. Everyone has a weakness, and I'm going to find his.

"Aren't you?" Steven asks with a laugh in his voice. He lands behind them so we have them mostly surrounded and croons right between them, "You two are awfully close to each other." They jump apart a foot and we laugh. "I sense tension. Don't you, Ni?"

His playful nature calls to me and I nod seriously. "Oh, so much tension. It's almost steamy." I fan myself dramatically, forcing a blush to appear. "So what is it about each other that's so attractive to you, then?"

The albasters reach under their coat in unison to pull out daggers that I can only assume are iron.

Bummer.

"No answer? Let me guess," Steven morphs before my eyes into the mirror image of the male and my powers allow me to follow suit to the female half. It feels like a connection for half a second, his body was teaching mine, before they lunge for us both, the woman for Steven and the man for myself. Steven dodges and hooks an arm around her to slam her to the ground. "I'll bet you like to be manhandled." He straddles her as she lashes wildly with her dagger, snatching it from her hand by the blade and swearing.

My task is only slightly harder. He goes for my chest directly, and it grazes me enough to make me hiss and tackle him. He's around my strength but stumbles enough for me to trip him. I forget though, about his dagger and he sinks it into my thigh. That smarts like a bitch, but now I feel it in tiny amounts coming off of him. "You find it alluring that I'm so durable, don't you? A woman strong enough to rival your power is sexy to you." I pin his arms underneath my knees and press hard onto his chest. "How about a front row seat to your wildest fantasy, baby?" I run a finger down the side of his face, watching as it twitches with effort to stay blank.

The woman is struggling under Steven while he presses kisses onto her neck. I can see her energy being sucked out of her, like a cloud of smoke in reverse it shimmers and shines in the sunlight. "See? This isn't so hard."

The guy growls up at me and grabs my attention. "You were attracted to your parents, disgusting little pervert."

It takes me aback and I feel myself seize at the accusation. That wasn't what that was, it was just their energy. I'm not some kind of incest freak, I'm not! It was gross and awkward and that's why I left and why I have two separate stab wounds in my stupid body. Before I can respond he kicks me square in the back of the head and sends me tumbling into the sand face first. His knee presses between my wings and fucking Hell I am so DONE WITH TODAY.

If this guy wants to go for cheap shit, then goddamn it two can play at that game. "Harder, Daddy." I moan and shift under him, letting the pain become pleasure. "Press harder, I like when you're rough with me. Why don't you give me a spanking too?"

Steven bursts out laughing and it provides enough of a distraction for me to use every ounce of power I have to suck the energy out of him faster than he could fight it. He gasps out and Steven dealt the killing blow with claws slashing through his neck. As I was free, I lunge for the woman, now pale and weak, and do the same.

We back up until our wings are touching and watch as they turn into ash and stilled.

"Are they dead?" I don't know how to feel about it, so I don't feel anything.

I can feel Steven shake his head. "No. They always come back. These ones were just weak."

He steps away and flaps his wings at the statue of dust and it falls apart into the wind. "You should do the same. It scatters their pieces so they can't regenerate as fast."

I study the woman's face, stricken with grief and lust, almost a beautiful picture in my eyes. And then she's gone too. "Now what?"

A hand on mine turns me to face him. "Now we have to make a choice."

"What's the choice?" My hand reaches up to his and I dig my nails into him.

He lets out a heavy breath and pulls me closer, narrowing his eyes. "You can decide to leave your parents, and come with me. Or... you can hide, and I can figure everything else out by myself."

"Those are two very heavy options. What do we need to figure out?" I press my hand into his chest and link our fingers together.

He licks his lips and breaks the eye contact. "I can't say it out loud."

"Why not?"

"It'll attract more of them. Make your choice now or..." He looks pained. "I'll have to leave you here. Being direct descendants means we are like flares. Everyone knows we're here."

Isn't that a good thing? I thought my birthday was supposed to be celebrated. I thought I was supposed to bring peace between worlds, not get killed immediately.

The look on his face tells me I was sorely mistaken.