Innocent Devil’s Harem Ch. 116 (Patreon)

February 26, 2023

NOTE: Hope you enjoy.

<< Chapter 115 | Ch 1 (Book 1) | Ch 16 (Book 2) | Ch 31 (Book 3) | Ch 46 (Book 4) | Ch 61 (Book 5) | Ch 76 (Book 6) | Ch 91 (Book 7) | Ch 106 (Book 8)

- CHAPTER 116: Side Effects -

I didn’t know what to say.

In response to finding out that Rachel’s mother’s name was Evelyn, I honestly was at a loss for words.

What could I say?

‘Wow, your mom’s name was Evelyn? Dang, that’s crazy. Because I’m pretty sure that the same woman who basically abandoned you, when you were still an infant, might actually be the surrogate who brought me into this world. Isn’t that crazy? That you went through all this hell in life because she had more important things to deal with? Things that had to do with me?’

Yeah, given that I didn’t know the details of the situation, there was no way in hell I was bringing any of that up. Especially since the hallucination and name only created a ‘suspicion,’ as opposed to any kind of certainty.

Technically, I didn’t know for sure it was the same person.

Didn’t know for sure if Rachel’s mother truly was the same ‘Eve.’

For all I knew, maybe Rachel’s mother had actually passed away, and this Eve person was someone else entirely. No point in giving her false hope. Granted, it was also possible that the reason why Rachel’s mother disappeared back then was specifically due to a curse. Perhaps one that would have endangered Rachel’s life, if the woman were to try raising her herself.

After all, this Eve person clearly had a curse she wanted broken, as she made pretty clear in the message she left on the midnight stone.

Unfortunately, a voice alone wasn’t enough to go on.

When I’d heard the message, ‘Rachel’ hadn’t come to my mind when hearing the woman’s voice. Although, now that I thought about it, maybe they did sound similar? Hard to say without hearing the message again, especially since it wasn’t exactly a ‘recorded’ message like on a phone, instead being one heard within the mind itself.

Thus, despite the shock at discovering Rachel’s mother’s name had been Evelyn, I decided not to say anything about it.

Instead, it was time to focus on the task at hand.

Natalie had the syringe with my blood in hand.

My blue-haired wife politely asked if Rachel was ready, and when the blind woman agreed, holding out her arm when prompted, Natalie knelt down in front of her.

Wanting Rachel to have a general idea of what to expect, she paused for a few seconds to give her some basic information, including the whole ‘passing out’ thing, and then gently grasped her arm to carefully insert the needle into a small bluish vein.

I was having Natalie do it, partially out of a show of respect for Joseph, since I was opting to not get super close to his women when it wasn’t necessary. And honestly, he seemed to appreciate that. But also, it was for Rachel’s sake too.

I wanted her to feel safe and comfortable.

Joseph looked tense the whole time, though not necessarily due to anxiety.

Overall, prior to coming into this situation, I knew my brother was going to have mixed feelings about everything I had to tell him, and I had definitely been right in that assumption. However, in the end, it seemed that relief was what won over, with him looking tense with hopefulness as Natalie began injecting the blood.

Visibly hopeful that this would truly fix Rachel.

A hope that strengthened when Rachel’s head swayed slightly, as if she were dizzy, and she rested it back on the couch, not responding when Joseph asked if it was already working.

As anticipated, Rachel went from fully awake, to just straight-up passing out, the moment my blood hit her system, even before Natalie finished slowly injecting what was in the tube.

Of course, ‘normal blood’ shouldn’t have that effect on a person, thereby confirming right then and there that my blood wasn’t normal.

Natalie finished injecting the rest of the blood, slowly, before standing back up.

“Well, that’s all done,” she commented casually, handing the needle to Serenity, even as she turned to sit back down to my left on the arm of the couch, across from Joseph, her main thought just being that she wanted to be closer to me. “Now we just have to wait a few hours for her to wake up.”

Serenity popped open the cooler and just dropped it inside at the edge of the blood bags, planning on disposing of it later.

“Oh, umm…” Joseph glanced at me, again looking as if he was searching for permission to talk directly to the blue-haired supermodel. “I guess we should probably update Emily and Sarah then,” he continued, finally focusing on Laura and Jamie, almost as if he’d changed his mind about whatever he was originally going to say to Natalie, deciding to instead speak to them, at the last second.

Jamie, the younger looking brunette, who was probably in her mid-twenties, spoke up as she rose to her feet all the way to my right. “I’ll go let them know. And I’ll make sure Gerald steps out of the room,” she added almost sarcastically, as if she’d been reminded to keep him in the dark several times prior to us arriving, and wanted to ensure they knew she understood.

Laura spoke up, her tone endearing. “Thanks sweetie.”

“Sure thing, mom,” Jamie replied casually as she walked out of the room.

Joseph immediately focused on me, almost looking embarrassed. “Umm…”

Serenity cut him off, readjusting the white cooler on her lap as she responded. “We kind of figured as much,” she said reassuringly, looking at Laura who seemed a little embarrassed too. “Not a big deal.”

Laura visibly struggled to respond. “Yes, well…umm, she’s with him, of course, but…umm, she and I aren’t, well…and he’s not…”

Joseph spoke up, his voice low. “They don’t need to know the details,” he hissed. “That’s kind of personal.” He then focused on me. “Sorry,” he added. “No offense.”

“I know,” Laura agreed seriously, grabbing his attention again as she looked up at him. “But I didn’t want them to think…”

Natalie sighed. “Guys, chill out. It’s not a big deal. We don’t need to know your business.”

I decided to chime in too, just to put a rest to the awkwardness. “I’m in a similar situation,” I admitted to Joseph, deciding to only mention Avery and Michelle. “I’m with a friend from school, and also her mom. So basically the same. No need to feel weird about it.”

“I strongly doubt it’s the same,” the brunette MILF retorted, causing Joseph’s face to flush more.

“Laura, please,” he said seriously, almost desperately now.

Which left me a bit confused as to why she’d think it was any different than my situation.

I mean, how could it be any different? Unless she wasn’t actually sexually intimate with Joseph for some reason, but I couldn’t imagine a single reason why that might be the case. Especially since she obviously lived here in the mansion with everyone else.

Right?

I assumed she wasn’t just visiting…

But if she wasn’t visiting, then the only way that would make sense was if she and Joseph were essentially platonic ‘friends,’ and the real reason she lived here was because she was actually intimate with one of the other women, of course making her fully lesbian, as opposed to bisexual, but the idea just seemed so weird to me. That Joseph might not have a real harem like I did. Or that not everyone who lived with him was actually intimate with him in a romantic sense.

Thing was, I didn’t technically have confirmation that he was intimate with any of them. At least, aside from Jamie, considering that Laura just confirmed the two of them were together. But now that I thought about it, I had zero idea if Laura, Emily, Sarah, or even Rachel were physically involved with him. It was something I just assumed, given that he called them ‘wives,’ but I knew even that wasn’t legally true.

The law only allowed marriage to one person, so these women weren’t all legally wives, no more than my women were, even if we had that level of commitment.

It was definitely something that had me feeling a bit confused now, wondering if I was missing something else entirely, but I decided I wasn’t going to press the issue.

Not with how flustered Joseph looked, honestly being the most worked up I’d ever seen him.

Was he embarrassed by the truth?

I mean, if he was with Jamie sexually, but only friends with Laura, that didn’t seem like something to be embarrassed about. Like, if Michelle had truly rejected a relationship with me, then I would have been fine with her living in the same house as me and Avery. Especially if Michelle was romantically involved with Rebecca, who was also living in the same house, because she was involved with me.

Okay, maybe I’d personally find that a bit weird, but I could see how Joseph would be comfortable with that arrangement, at least.

So then, if the truth was similar to that, then maybe it was embarrassing specifically because he knew how our brothers would perceive that kind of thing. As him being a wimp for not ‘owning’ all the women in his life. But if one or two of the women were truly lesbian, then what could be done about it?

I mean, shit, for all I knew, maybe Joseph was only attracted to lesbians.

Was Rachel lesbian?

Was that actually the reason why she gouged her eyes out, not just because she was sexually assaulted, but because she’d never been with a man prior to that moment? I mean, thinking about it from a flipped perspective, if a succubus had similar powers and was able to compel a straight man to sleep with another guy, then hell yeah I bet that guy would gouge out his eyes to prevent it from happening again. Because that would be so much more revolting than being compelled to have sex with even an ugly woman.

Except in Rachel’s case, the guy in question who compelled her was probably handsome, making it like a guy being forced to have sex with a ‘hot’ woman, instead of an ugly one. But if Rachel was only attracted to women in the first place, and had never been with a guy, then she might have been extremely revolted by the experience, far beyond how she might have felt for only being forced to ‘cheat’ on her man.

Fuck, I knew that couldn’t be true.

That just seemed too ridiculous to be true.

Assuming Joseph didn’t specifically seek out lesbians to live with him…

Jamie at least wasn’t a lesbian…

Fuck, the ideas in my head were just getting crazier and crazier, so I decided to stop focusing on it.

Ultimately, it didn’t matter to me what their situation was, and wasn’t really any of my business.

Deciding to just change the subject entirely, to move on to less awkward topics, I ended up asking an entirely different question.

Something very relevant.

“So tell me about your butler,” I requested, considering Jamie had gone off to give Emily and Sarah an update.

An update the older man hopefully wouldn’t overhear.

But a secret that he would probably find out eventually…

Especially if Joseph’s wives struggled with looking normal when they woke up.

“What do you want to know about him?” Joseph wondered, only to begin rattling off some basic information. “He’s worked for me about thirteen years now, and I trust him with our lives. He’s divorced, has no interest in remarrying -- doesn’t want a woman ‘dictating his shit,’ as he puts it -- and has grown kids about my age. Two daughters and a son. They’re all married and have children of their own. He used to be in the military and has done private security ever since.”

“And there’s no chance he’s compromised, right?” I wondered. “Because, as much as I would prefer that he not find out about all this, it’s possible he might. So, it’s kind of important we can really trust him. That he’s not secretly in someone else’s pocket, spying on you.”

Joseph shook his head. “No, I was very careful when hiring him. I was specifically looking for someone who had no connections to our father. Or any other immortal for that matter.”

“And you’re not worried about blackmail? You said he has an ex-wife, kids, and grandchildren. An incubus could easily blackmail him.”

Joseph frowned at that.

At first, I thought it was because I’d made a valid point, but he responded hesitantly.

“We…okay, this is a big secret, but we sort of have a way of dealing with that. A code phrase that sounds completely normal, but that would tell me he’s been compromised. And if he was compromised, we have plans for how I would believably retire him with a pension, and get a new butler. If anything, it would probably be a better deal for him to falsely claim he’d been compromised, but he hasn’t, and isn’t. I really do trust him.”

“I trust him too,” Laura added with a nod.

I sighed, kind of wishing I could compel anyone, just so I could verify for myself, but realizing that if I really wanted to know for sure, then I’d probably have to get Miriam or Delilah involved, something I didn’t particularly want to do.

Their charm was harmless enough, and definitely had a compulsory effect on normal men, enough to at least sway them to be honest, but requesting they use their charm for that kind of purpose felt like it should be reserved for a bigger situation, where there was no other choice. With it not being worth the ‘exposure’ otherwise.

Hopefully the kind of situation we wouldn’t ever find ourselves in.

Joseph continued. “Honestly, I don’t think it will be a problem though. Shouldn’t be too hard to keep this a secret from him, especially since everyone will still look the same.”

Serenity sighed, deciding to speak up. “Well, about that. Most of us have transformed upon waking up, and it usually takes a while to learn how to look normal again. Possibly might take a few days to fully get it under control. So, if he’s around a lot, then he might have to get used to a bunch of demons walking around the house for a few days.”

Joseph and Laura both looked more shocked than I was expecting.

“Well that’s good to know!” he retorted in disbelief.

Natalie immediately scoffed. “Chill dude. It’s only for a few days. Maybe less for some.”

I sighed. “And it’s not like that’s a dealbreaker, right?”

He grimaced at that, glancing down at Rachel’s passed-out form between him and Laura. “No, but…” He raised is voice again. “Still would have been nice to know beforehand!”

“She’ll be fine,” Serenity reassured him. “And they’ll all be fine. I can control my transformation. Natalie can control hers. You’ve seen it for yourself.”

“Right,” Natalie agreed. “And we are going to be here for any of the ‘hard parts.’ After that, it should be smooth sailing.”

Laura looked concerned, her tone incredulous. “Hard parts?”

Natalie hesitated at that.

Hesitated, because she wanted to make sure I was okay with telling them those details now.

And surprisingly…

I was.

Prior to now, I’d been sincerely hesitant to tell them all the details, largely because I didn’t want them to reject the offer…

But now…

I felt a lot more comfortable doing so.

The reason?

Because even if something did end up being a dealbreaker, I had at least injected Rachel with my blood. I’d at least given her the gift of eyesight back, as well as all the other benefits that came with being like me.

Honestly, I wasn’t sure why that mattered to me so much, or when exactly I’d decided that I would withhold information specifically to ensure Rachel didn’t hesitate in accepting my offer…I mean, aside from wanting to do my best to ‘right the wrongs’ done against her.

But that just meant that, at this point, if the rest of them refused, I really didn’t care so much.

Honestly, it was kind of like…

Like I suddenly had peace.

I was fine with it only being Rachel who received my blood, if the others refused for some reason.

A fact I hadn’t even fully realized until just now.

In truth, I wasn’t trying to be deceitful, but the resistance to sharing everything else…just felt gone now…

Now that Rachel was past the point of no return.

I felt completely relaxed.

More than that, I felt like my job here was done.

Everyone else was ‘optional.’

And all of them didn’t have to receive my blood specifically today either.

Previously, I was planning on being adamant that it was either ‘today or never.’ But at this point, I didn’t mind the idea of coming back in a week or two, if they needed some time to think about it.

Rachel was fixed.

The blood in her system couldn’t be undone.

So now, I could be more patient with everyone else.

Not that they would end up refusing anyway, but it wouldn’t bother me if they did.

Natalie continued, her tone casual, as if what she was saying wasn’t a big deal. “Yeah, hard parts,” she said to the brunette MILF. “Rachel will probably wake up normally, but there’s a small chance she won’t be herself right away.”

Joseph and Laura were both tense.

“Like sleep walking,” I quickly clarified.

Serenity sighed, sitting forward a little more as she readjusted the cooler of blood in her lap. “Possibly more like…sleep attacking.”

Both of their eyes widened.

Serenity quickly continued. “It’s a rare side effect, at least what we’ve seen so far, and it should only happen if someone is hurt badly, or otherwise low on blood.”

“Basically,” I interjected, Joseph’s tan face looking a little ashen. “If someone is hurt bad enough to lose consciousness, then they’ll become a bit feral in search of blood. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing, especially if the alternative is dying.”

“T-That…” Laura stammered.

“Is kind of something we need to know!” Joseph blurted out, with him looking visibly irritated while simultaneously appearing as if he was going to pass out.

“And we’re telling you now!” Natalie retorted louder, to match his tone, crossing her thin arms as she shifted her weight on the arm of the couch. “So chill out. Would you have really denied Rachel getting her eyesight back over a minor side effect that might not even happen? I’ve never lost consciousness, and Serenity hasn’t either. Only one person has, out of eight.”

His frustration must have been giving him courage, because he held her gaze as he responded with a controlled even tone, almost as if he was talking to a subordinate at work -- very professional, but also giving off that ‘I’m the boss’ vibe.

“I wouldn’t deny her anything she wanted,” he snapped. “But she should have been warned beforehand! What if she hurts someone? Especially someone she cares about?”

Serenity spoke back up, her tone intentionally soothing. “Calm down, Joseph. We won’t let something like that happen. Like Natalie said, we’ll be here for any hard parts. And honestly, if it’s going to happen, the only person it might happen with is Rachel. And that’s a big ‘might,’ since she’s otherwise healthy. Delilah for example,” she abruptly added, deciding to give an example. “Her wings and tail were maimed and broken. She woke up normally. Was in control of herself the entire time. The only situation we know of, where someone might try to attack people in their sleep, is if they’ve had some blood loss or otherwise had a recent injury.”

Laura sounded concerned, but hopeful. “So it has to be recent? You’re sure?”

I nodded, focusing on her, surprised when she didn’t avert her brown gaze. “From what we’ve seen so far, if it’s an old injury, then they’ll wake up normally. The only one time it’s happened is when they had a recent injury, and some blood loss.” I glanced at Serenity briefly, silently asking her opinion on what I wanted to say next, something that took less than half a second of silent communication between us, before giving them my attention again. “And I actually tested it out myself. I borrowed Ren’s gun and shot myself in the arm until I passed out.” I focused specifically on Laura. “Took several shots to fall unconscious. I woke up running, but I completely ignored the person with me.”

“Because she was already like him,” Serenity added. “And that’s also something we should probably mention. If someone does fall unconscious, they should ignore anyone else like us. They’ll only go after animals or normal humans.” She focused on Joseph. “Which means, once everyone is different, including you, none of you should be in danger of hurting each other, even if someone does get hurt badly enough to fall unconscious.”

Natalie nodded. “Yeah, and honestly, how many of you have actually been hurt that bad in the first place? Enough that you would have been hospitalized?”

Laura frowned at that. “Well, never,” she commented, focusing at Joseph. “Not counting the surgery Emily had five years ago.”

He simply nodded.

“Exactly,” Natalie retorted. “So it really shouldn’t be a big deal. Just don’t get severely hurt, like usual, and it shouldn’t be a problem. And with Rachel, more than likely she’ll just wake up, still blind, and be really thirsty. But if she isn’t conscious when she wakes up and tries attacking either of you, then we’ll stop her.”

Laura’s brow creased in concern as she glanced down at the unconscious woman. “So…should we, like…” She focused on me. “Move away from her? Before she wakes up?” She looked up at Natalie. “Just in case?”

Serenity and I exchanged a glance, with her deciding to respond. “It’s not even been an hour yet, and usually it takes four hours.” She shrugged, looking at Laura. “I mean, when it gets closer to the two or three hour mark, we can take precautions.” She focused on Joseph. “If you don’t mind, we can just switch up the seats. Natalie and I will just sit with her, so we’re right there in case she’s not herself.”

He grimaced at that, his eyes darting briefly toward me before returning to her. “Are you sure the two of you can restrain her?” he wondered, his eyes shifting to Natalie’s thin form, considering she looked like she’d struggle to lift a cat over her head, with how thin her arms were. “Without hurting her,” he clarified.

I sighed. “They’re both stronger than you might think, and Natalie’s a lot heavier than she looks.”

“Hey!” she retorted playfully.

I smirked, continuing. “But worst case, if Rachel wakes up and tries to attack anyone, I’ll stop her without hurting her. She shouldn’t be much stronger than a normal person though, when she wakes up. They’ll be able to handle it. Natalie could handle her by herself. Same with Serenity.”

Natalie nodded. “I can definitely handle her on my own. As a normal werewolf, I was just as weak as any other girl when I was in my human form, probably weaker than most, since I was starved a lot, but I’ve gotten a lot stronger in the last week. It’ll be fine.”

My brow furrowed at that.

Specifically at her mentioning ‘human form,’ because in her mind, I could see how she actually thought of it.

As if she were truly a ‘wolf’ now -- or rather, a hellhound…

And her human body was…

More like a disguise.

Something to hide her true self.

And my realization of that actually surprised her too.

Natalie didn’t react outwardly, but she hadn’t realized her own perspective had shifted.

A perspective that she was no longer a human.

Her current form was simply camouflage.

Joseph spoke up, not noticing anything off.

“So can I ask about that part? The transformation part? Because obviously all three of you seem different from each other.”

“Umm, yeah,” I agreed. “Given my real age, it would probably be most accurate to say that ‘I don’t remember’ how it’s supposed to work, assuming I once knew what my intentions were. But as far as we can tell, my blood is bringing out any supernatural traits someone might have. So Serenity, for example,” I said, gesturing with my elbow toward her on my right. “She must have had an ancestor that was an inferno imp. And of course, while Natalie likely didn’t have a wolf ancestor, she sort of became a more powerful werewolf. More than likely, you in particular Joseph, will become something closer to a full-blooded incubus, so don’t let it go to your head.”

Shockingly, Laura reacted very negatively to that, outwardly looking composed, but with her aura shifting dramatically. A conglomeration of hatred, disgust, disapproval, and even a little bit of fear, or at least anxiety. The latter of which tainted her scent a little too, if only for a few seconds.

I was so surprised -- we all were, since Natalie and Serenity picked up on it through our bond -- that all three of us looked at her in sync, prompting Joseph to look at her too, visibly confused as to what he’d missed to catch our attention so fast.

Laura immediately stifled the feelings, acting like nothing unusual was going on, despite having all our attention so abruptly.

“That’s interesting,” she replied as casually as if she was talking about the weather. She then smiled and looked at Joseph, followed by focusing down on the passed-out Rachel. “I wonder what we’ll become,” she commented, only to focus on me again. “Or does anything even happen if someone doesn’t have a supernatural ancestor? Is there a way to know beforehand? Because I’m not sure there’s anything special about any of us.”

Holy shit.

I wasn’t sure I’d ever met anyone who could be so ridiculously composed after experiencing such harsh and intense emotions. To the point that I honestly wouldn’t have had a clue anything was wrong were it not for me being able to sense auras, and knew Joseph definitely didn’t have a clue. Which kind of bothered me.

Would she tell him later how she really felt?

That she didn’t like the idea of him becoming a full-blooded incubus?

Or was the reaction caused by something else, like trauma or something, and she was actually fine with Joseph becoming a true incubus?

Surely she trusted him, right?

Not that it would matter, since they would all be immune to compulsion anyway.

I decided to point that out.

After answering her question first.

“Not sure if there’s any way to know beforehand,” I admitted, only to pause when Miriam spoke up in our bond, indicating that she could use her spell for that, the one she used to identify that Natalie was a werewolf. But of course that would involve exposing her, and wasn’t worth it, in my opinion. So I continued. “But I’m pretty sure all of you should be immune to compulsion anyway,” I added. “And that’s the primary goal of all this.”

Her brown eyes widened at that, her body tensing. “Oh, umm. Yes, of course. I was just curious, is all. The, umm, idea of becoming something different is, well…” She glanced at Joseph. “Well, not something I’d really considered beforehand.” She returned her gaze to me, giving me an endearing smile, her aura becoming much calmer again. “But yes. Thank you, dear. You’re right. It shouldn’t matter. And thanks for sharing this gift with all of us,” she added more sincerely. “The idea that this…that what happened to Rachel…” She grimaced, with jealousy of all emotions sparking from her aura briefly, before it vanished. “Well, knowing it will never happen again is a great relief.”

I was trying so hard to not react.

We all were.

She was just…so composed, outwardly.

Natalie would have picked up on her scent, that initial spike of anxiety or even fear. But otherwise, both she and Serenity wouldn’t have had a clue, since their third-eyes clearly weren’t as sensitive as mine was.

And honestly, it was possible mine was only so sensitive because I was actually three millennia old.

But then, there was what the jealousy could imply.

Joseph had definitely seemed ashamed when they shared what happened to Rachel five years ago, but Laura…

She was reacting quite differently.

The memory made her feel hatred and jealousy.

As if someone took advantage of her woman.

Were Rachel and Laura actually a couple? As in, one that was separated from everyone else? A couple that didn’t have sex with anyone else? Joseph was obviously with Jamie, that much was clear by what Laura herself had said, but now I was really starting to wonder if Joseph’s actual ‘harem’ only consisted of three women, even though five lived in the house.

But then, why live together?

If Rachel wasn’t also with Joseph, then why live with him?

Or maybe Rachel was with him, and it was only Laura who was exclusive with Rachel.

I wasn’t sure, but I could hear someone walking down the hallway, likely Jamie returning from talking to Sarah and Emily, so I decided to answer their question about transforming.

“You’re welcome,” I said simply, in response to her thanking me for this gift I was sharing with them. “And yeah, it’s possible that not everyone will look super different when transformed. Two of my women actually look mostly normal when they shift, their normal coloring just becoming more vibrant.”

“Oh?” Laura said in surprise. “Vibrant how?”

Serenity decided to chime in. “My best friend has red hair, green eyes, and slightly tan skin, kind of like she’s been out in the sun all summer long. All of that just becomes brighter when she shifts, to the point that she could probably transform in public and no one would really think twice about it.”

“Huh, and I’m assuming that’s not something you could do, right?” She glanced up at Joseph. “I hope it wasn’t supposed to be a secret, but we were told you did look a bit…umm, demonic? Is that okay to say? I mean no offense,” she added, focusing back on Serenity.

“It’s fine,” she replied, hearing Jamie coming too. “I can show you, if you want,” she added, looking up at the door to the private living room as it creaked open.

“I would like to see that,” Laura agreed, focusing up at her daughter.

“See what?” Jamie commented curiously.

“What she looks like when she transforms,” Laura said simply.

Jamie hesitated at that, stopping on Joseph’s other side. “Oh, umm…cool.”

Serenity laughed, mainly to try to ease the tension. “I am a little scary,” she admitted. “I keep scaring myself whenever I look in the mirror.”

“Sorry,” Jamie said sincerely. “I just, like…really hate scary stuff. Don’t do scary movies. And the idea that you look…” She grimaced, focusing on Joseph as well. “Umm…”

Joseph chimed in, changing subjects. “So what did they say?”

Jamie sighed. “Well, I think they believe all this now, after what I told them. But they still want to see how Rachel turns out. Obviously him being…” She glanced at me nervously. “Well, you know. None of us want what happened to her to happen to us.”

I sighed, not because I was offended or anything, but just because it made me realize how much that single event really did mess up their family. And it was clear they truly understood how horrible it was for Rachel, enough that they all were wary, even now, five years later.

Honestly, kind of made me wonder if the real reason why Sarah and Emily were nervous about meeting me to this extent, was because they’d suffered from being assaulted before. Possibly before they actually met Joseph. So of course they’d be especially afraid of someone who could make them want it, even though they really didn’t.

For women like that, an incubus like me was kind of a walking nightmare, even if I was someone who would never do such a thing.

“N-No offense,” Jamie added uncomfortably, in response to my sigh.

“No, none taken,” I said reassuringly. “I’m just sorry. But at least none of you will have to worry about being compelled, once you’re like me.”

Her brown eyes widened in surprise, as if she too had forgotten that was the biggest perk I was offering. “Oh, umm. Right. Thank you.”

Laura spoke up, her gaze almost apologetic. “Honestly, I think after talking for a bit, I would feel comfortable about accepting this offer now…if you are willing to do so.”

“I don’t mind,” I replied. “Honestly, if I could just do everyone at once, I would prefer that, so that this doesn’t take all day. But, I can also understand the hesitation,” I added.

She nodded, focusing up at Natalie when she stood up to grab another syringe. For a brief second, Serenity glanced at Joseph, as if seeing if he was going to voice an opinion on the subject, only for us both to realize that he clearly took a backseat when it specifically came to Laura. Because not only did she not look to him for his opinion, but he didn’t even look like he had one to give.

If Laura wanted to receive my blood now, then that was fully her decision alone.

She didn’t need Joseph’s opinion…

Because I was pretty sure at this point that Joseph wasn’t her man.

And she wasn’t his woman, even though they lived in the same house. Although how that was possible, I had no idea, since it sounded like Joseph ‘got involved’ with Laura first. As in, she was his first woman, possibly for many years, and Rachel his second.

So then maybe it was a respect thing?

Or maybe Laura just ran the show and otherwise wore the pants in the family.

I knew I’d probably never figure it out unless I asked, but didn’t really want to make Joseph flustered again, instead just wanting to get all these transformations over with, so I could get back to my own stuff.

Natalie handed me the syringe to stick myself.

I accepted it, and carefully jabbed it in my arm.

Because it was time to get the second person started.

FEEDBACK: Let me know what you thought.

This story has a certain pacing, which it is had since the beginning, partly due to it having a 'slice-of-life' element.

Unlike some of my other stories, 'slice-of-life' is a big part of this one, and the pacing is 'real-time,' similar to a soap opera (or the show '24') where 1 hour of screen time is 1 hour in their world.

In this case, 1 day is roughly 15 chapters, and it's been that way since Chapter 1.

Also, attempting to write too much is how I end up burning myself out.

Chapter 117 >>

LIST OF STORIES >>

LIST OF ARTWORK >>