Shit. I must look like crap if she’s beingthisnice.
“Are you gonna drop that dagger now?”
Ruby shook the sleep from her head. “Yeah. I’m just … still waking up.”
Portia threw her head back with a laugh, going so far as to wipe tears from her eyes as she continued to laugh. “I scared the hell out of you, didn’t I?”
“Ya think?” Ruby waved the dagger around before dropping it onto the bed. “What are you doing in my hotel room, Aunt Portia?”
“Just checking in on my favorite niece. You will never guess what.”
“We need boundaries, Portia. If I can’t call youaunt, you can’t break into my room to watch me sleep. That’s creepy, and not to mention illegal.”
“Illegal?” she snorted. “You do know this is a resort for Hell’s creatures, right? There is nothingillegalhere.”
“Fine. Then come over here so I can murder you and go back to bed.” Ruby lay down, snuggling her pillow with one hand and her dagger in the other.
“Aw, sweetie. You’re still not a morning person. That’s too bad. You’ll have to get over that while you’re here.” Portia stood and riffled through Ruby’s opened luggage. She pulled out a little emerald-green dress and threw it at her niece. “Put this on.”
“This is aworkdress. I’m on holiday.”
“Don’t care. You’ll look hot in it, and there is someone I want you to meet.” She shimmied her shoulders. “You have nearly all of eternity to lounge in heavy sweats! But here, you will look your best. You’ll thank me later.”
“Highly unlikely,” Ruby grumbled, stuffing her head under her pillow.
Portia sat at the foot of the bed and tapped her leg, just like she had when Ruby was a little girl and Roja made her cry.
Oh, let’s be real. It was her mother that made her cry.
Those were the times that Aunt Portia always snuck into Ruby’s chamber to comfort Ruby with a little guidance and maternal advice that was actually useful.
“Are you gonna sit up and tell me what’s going on? Or do you want to sulk a little more? It doesn’t matter to me, but this isyourholiday. How much do you want to spend moping?”
Ruby sighed as she sat up. “I was very much enjoying feeling terrible for myself.”
“I know, sweetie. It feels good for a bit, but the only cure is to get up and keep at it. Another cure istalking.Tell me what happened.”
Ruby almost wanted to lie for one hot second, but the look in her aunt’s eyes made her tell the truth.
“I wanna know how to stop.” She waited for Portia to explode with fury. She didn’t. “Stop being a succubus,” Ruby clarified. “I wanna retire. Leave. Stop. You get it?”
“I do, but I don’t think you’re gonna like the remedy for what ails you.”
Ruby winced. Of course, she had figured it wouldn’t be so easy as walking into Hell, demanding an audience with Lucifer to hand in her very last soul. “How bad is it?”
Portia’s smile was small and sad.
Fuck.Of course, it would be bad! They weresexdemons. That was top sin material! A soul gathered by a succubus was worth a whole lot. Way more than a sloth demon could pull in. Succubi were basically rockstars in Hell. Leaving that wouldn’t be easy. It would be fighting her very nature and her instincts, but Ruby was sure her instincts were broken. With that in mind, it wasn’t like she had something to lose.
She wanted to put a rest to it all and live a simple life. No soul collecting, no never-ending and impossible-to-win competition with Roja.
“Well,” Portia began, “the only way to retire isn’t exactly easy. You need to have a child.”
Ruby blinked a few times to process the words. “What the fuck?” she cried. “The only way I can stop doing the succubus thing is by having a daughter who will take my place?”
Portia nodded.
“Holy shit. Of all the messed-up things to do!”