Lilin’s eyes glistened and his gut ached at the sight of a tear rolling down her cheek.
“No crying,” he growled. “That’s not playing fair.”
“I’m sorry.” Her throat worked as she swallowed. “I have never been human before. I have no place to go, and I don’t know what to do. There is only one thing I have ever been good at, and I won’t lower myself to do it as a mortal. As a mortal I would be considered a prostitute, using my body to get what I need. I just won’t do it.”
Archer lifted a brow. “Sex?”
She sniffed and raised her chin. “If you could remember your past, you would know exactly what I’m talking about: sex and the taking of a human’s soul. In your case, a female’s soul.”
He groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger before looking back at her. “Give me a break. I don’t know what’s going on and I want some answers.”
Lilin stood and moved towards him. “Did you not wonder how I could appear and disappear? And wings — do you think mortals can grow them whenever they please?” Another tear rolled down her cheek. “I failed, damn you. Now I am as cursed as you are.”
She was close enough that Archer reached up to cup her chin in his palm and rubbed away the tear with his thumb. “Why is it I want to believe you?” He continued to stroke her cheek. “What is it about the Unseelie Court and the name Queen Rusalka that makes me feel like someone punched me in the gut?”
Her grey eyes widened. “You remember?”
“Remember what?”
Lilin leaned into his touch. “You were once Incubae, as I was Succubae. But you displeased the Queen -I do not know why -and you were cast out and given a mortal’s soul and a mortal’s life. The fact you were an Incubus was probably why you were able to resist me.”
Archer shook his head. “I should take you straight to the hospital and have you admitted to a psych ward.”
Another tear rolled down her cheek, this one bigger. “I have no way to prove any of this. Queen Rusalka said I have little time to get my affairs in order before I will be as you and not able to remember my former life.” She drew away from him and folded her arms beneath her breasts.
Those perfect breasts . . .
He snapped back to attention as she continued, more tears rolling down her cheeks. “If you do not help me, then I may as well be taken to a hospital. At least then I will have housing and food.” She sighed. “I now know what hunger is. I have not had a meal all day and my stomach makes a funny rumbling, growling sound.” She sniffled as a virtual flood of tears started.
Archer couldn’t help himself. He was a sucker for crying females. He reached for her and brought her into his embrace. She buried her face against his shirt and sobbed.
“I don’t know what to do,” she whispered as she tilted her head up to face him. “Where does a Succubus go when she isn’t immortal any more?”
He squeezed her tighter to him and couldn’t believe the words that came out of his mouth. “You can stay here for now, OK?”
Five
Today was sunny and Lilin stood on the porch breathing in clean scents of pine and fresh earth. In the distance she heard the trickle of a creek, and it reminded her of something -something she couldn’t quite remember. It had been nearly a month since she started living with Archer and already she had forgotten much of her life as Succubae. The more she struggled to remember, the harder it became.
It took a while before she and Archer fell into a routine. Lilin was so grateful to Archer she would have done anything for him, but he asked nothing of her. She had no skills - as an immortal she had even had to use magic to help at his office the day she replaced his assistant.
She would be a disaster as a human.
Archer took her step by step through small tasks. First teaching her how to cook, starting with how to boil water. That had nearly been a catastrophe when she knocked over the teakettle and water flooded the b
urner and snuffed the gas flame.
But she could now spread a substance called peanut butter on bread, although she had problems with jelly - wiggly, sticky stuff. She normally ended up with half on her shirt, but triumphant with the half that made it onto the other slice of bread. The taste was quite pleasant.
He was a patient teacher, but she knew when he was trying to hide a smile when she was mad enough to scream with frustration. The first time Archer grinned at one of her blunders, she had stomped on his foot. He kept his amusement to himself after that.
Wind stirred Lilin’s hair, bringing with it the scent of an oncoming thunderstorm. She felt as if she could fly with the wind and soar through the trees.
What an odd thought.
It was difficult being around Archer and not sharing his bed. She was sure he felt the same, if the hardness in his jeans whenever he came near her was any indication. But he respected her clear desire not to use her body to gain favour. In contrast to her former life, she would no longer bed a man unless he cared for her, and she for him.
She wished to please him in other ways. For the time being. She was no longer Succubae and she would learn to live like a human. If it killed her.