Chapter 4—The Missing Ring

Maxine

After yawning, I stepped into the Dead Candle Tavern and walked to the counter to clock in for the night. Four wolves sat at the center of the bar, talking gruffly with one another. I inhaled sharply, the scars on my chest burning from the memories of the wolf attack years ago.

Once I took a deep breath, I forced myself to smile and ask for their drink order. My eyes were heavy, the need to sleep overwhelming. I didn’t know what had gotten into me last night, but I couldn’t stop touching myself. I must’ve been up until four in the morning, teasing my aching clit, desperate for release after release.

When I placed four pints of beer in front of the four wolves, I spotted a demon who resembled someone from the royal family walking out of the bar. I believed his name was Erthrol.

“Excuse me!” I called, hurrying out of the tavern to catch him and return the ring.

When he looked over at me with his curious yellow-tinted eyes, I swallowed hard and clasped my hands together. While I had worked here for over a year now, I hadn’t talked to an incubus other than asking for his drink order. And I didn’t know what had possessed me to say something now. It might not even belong to him.

After he raked his gaze down my body, lingering on my covered chest, he smirked at me and stepped closer, the air around us suddenly becoming heavy. “I sure hope that I’m not in trouble with you, Miss …”

“Maxine,” I said, my palms sweating. “You can call me Maxine.”

My heart pounded against my rib cage, my mouth drying. Was this what it felt like to talk to not only an incubus demon, but also one from the royal family? I had heard they had powers that could make the strongest people fall to their knees in lust.

As he continued to stare at me, I pulled my gaze away and smoothed out my shirt, my nipples piercing through the thick material of my bra. “Um … no. You’re not in trouble. I just …”

Oh gods, why is this so hard?

All I seemed to think about was how an incubus would be in bed. But, hell, I didn’t know if anything could beat last night. My pussy still ached from how many times I had come over and over again, the never-ending bout of lust swirling through me.

“Hmm?” he asked, eyes darkening.

“I found a ring,” I forced myself to say before I made an even bigger fool of myself.

He stepped even closer. “A ring,” he said into my ear. “Is that so?”

With his breath on my neck, I looked down at my feet and squeezed my eyes closed. What the fuck was wrong with me? I—reluctantly—talked to people all day at work, but I could barely speak tonight. All I needed was to hand over the damn ring.

“Yes,” I said, stepping backward to put space between us. “From the royal family.”

“Where is it?”

“Right here.” I shoved my hands into my pockets to retrieve the ring.

Nothing.

My breath hitched, and I shook my head. Nerves rushed through my body. 

“I swear I had it,” I said, stuffing my hands deeper into my pockets in an attempt to find it.

If I couldn’t find it, I would be screwed. I had brought it home with me to stop someone from stealing it, and now … now, it looked like I was the one who had stolen it to sell it for money or something.

“I must’ve left it at my house.”

But that wasn’t the truth. I knew I hadn’t left it at home, and I hadn’t dropped it on the way over. I had shoved it deep into my pocket last night before I left for work, and I didn’t take it out once. It hadn’t fallen out either at home.

The demon hummed, and my skin warmed. Thoughts about last night rushed through my mind, and I found myself pressing my legs together. 

Why was I thinking about last night? Was it because I had stayed up for so long, been so high off of coming, that I might’ve accidentally left it there this morning?

No. Right?

“Your cheeks are red,” he said. “And you can’t look at me. Are you lying?”

“No,” I breathed quickly, glancing up at him and shaking my head for emphasis. “I swear I’m not. I found it last night after I closed the tavern, and I brought it home so nobody could steal it here.”

“What’d it look like?”

“It was black, gold, and … red, I think.”

“It belongs to Xorgor,” he said. “My brother. His has a little nick in the side like this one does.”

“Xorgor,” I repeated, my heart suddenly racing. “Isn’t he—”

“An ugly motherfucker?” he finished. “You wouldn’t forget a face like his.”

My stomach twisted and turned, his words not sitting well with me. After those succubi had completely criticized Xorgor last night, I couldn’t help but feel bad for this man I had never met. Now, even his brother was poking fun at him.

I touched the buttons on my shirt, ensuring that it was still pulled shut. If he was saying that about his brother … gods only knew what he would say about me if he saw the horrid scars across my chest. It had been over a decade, and I could barely look at them.

“I haven’t seen him,” I whispered. “He wasn’t here last night.”

The demon tilted his head down at me, like he didn’t believe me.

“I swear.”

“Xorgor, that piece of shit.” He chuckled to himself after another silent moment, the deep sound making me warm in all the wrong places. “I should’ve known he would skip the royal gathering to visit a sexy thing like you.”

My cheeks burned with embarrassment. He wasn’t speaking sense.

“He-he wasn’t here last night.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll tell my brother that you had it and let him deal with you.” He moved closer to me and curled his finger around a piece of my hair, tugging gently on it and moving his lips millimeters from my jaw. “Or I can return and deal out the consequences of losing a royal family ring.”

“Y-you will?” I asked, voice barely above a whisper.

While I had lived in Durnbone for all my life, I couldn’t even begin to think about what kind of torture a demon would be capable of with me. I didn’t want to end up like one of those girls in The Dungeon, who monsters used and abused, doing whatever the fuck they wanted with them.

I-I couldn’t do that.

I’d promised myself that I would make it out of this town one day and find my best friend who had disappeared four years ago. Sina had to be out there somewhere, waiting for me to show up. She had to still be alive.

“I’m sure I’ll be seeing you later, Maxine,” he purred into my ear. And then, in a moment, he vanished into thin air.

I stared at the ground with tears in my eyes and sprawled my hand over my chest, my fingers grazing against my scars underneath my shirt. If I didn’t find that ring, then I would be done for.

They’d put more scars like these all over my body. They’d destroy any last hope of me ever finding love. Because nobody liked a woman with scars mapped onto her body, with shame written into her skin. Those monsters would make me uglier than I already was. They would make me into a monster.