I sighed. "I'm not a Succubus. There's two sides to every coin." From the folklore I knew about Succubi they stole people's energy to sustain their own. My Sex Magic gave mine and my partners energy freely to create something new, to give life to ideas or dreams.
He raised his eyebrows then squinted at me. "I'll take a look at these and get back to you." He headed to the door.
"Wait, please." I stood in front of him. "Please don't take the books out of here." I looked around the large room. "I have a bad feeling if they're removed-"
Diego stared at me, jaw clenched, he was pissed and didn't like what I was telling him.
The Sheriff looked around. "She might be right, knowing Chef he may have some kind of wards, it could be protecting the books."
"Fine." Diego strode to the kitchen instead.
The Sheriff pulled out his notebook and shuffled through it again.
I opened the book in my arms and read through the index. A few references to The Codex Gigas caught my eye. I headed into the kitchen.
Diego was looking through his stack of books and ignored me.
I whispered to him, "What happened to that big book from the ritual?"
He side-eyed me but didn't answer.
"Keiran? Jess?" I whispered as the Sheriff entered the room.
Diego's jaw tightened as he looked over the books.
"I'm going to find Jess. Come by the station later, I have a few more questions about your case." The Sheriff left before I could answer.
Diego walked to the window, making sure the Sheriff was gone. When the coast was clear he walked back to me. "Who the fuck are you?" He looked like he wanted to strangle me but moved back to his stack of books instead. "You come out of nowhere, my brother acts like a fucking fool and starts a war. He was three days away from being free." He shook his head. "And now he's in some kind of Magical coma. Bodies are adding up, Chef, Roman, a fucking cop. Word is you're pregnant with Chef's baby, or Keiran's, or Jonny's. I'm surprised Bishop isn't on that list, you seem real close with the Sheriff."
I glared at him, my blood boiling with his accusations. "Keiran is trying to kill me, he's the one that made me lose my memory in the first place and it was his fucking Demon that tried to drag me into Hell. I'm only pregnant because Jonny sent someone else's blood." I took a deep breath. "I mean, I'm not pregnant. I've only had sex with Jonny once since I was released from the fucking hospital a month ago. Not that it's any of your business." I took a step toward him, tears in my eyes. "I've been poisoned, shot, and stabbed, almost pulled into Hell. Did you know that's what Jonny was saving me from, an eternity of torture?"
He backed away from me, his face softening.
"Your sister is the one who sent me here and I'm grateful to her but I didn't sign up for this. If I knew Jonny would end up hurt, I wouldn't have come here." I slammed the book on the table, it fell to the ground as I turned to leave the room. Tears blurred my vision but I traveled the wood path from Chefs' rooms to my laundry tower countless times. The rising sun lit the way and I found my way back to my room quickly. I pulled the suitcase out from under my bed, mindlessly rolled my clothes and packed.
It didn't take long, the bag too small to take everything. Most of the clothing would be left behind, along with the necklace Jonny had placed around my neck. I placed it on the little table next to the bed, with the phone Jonny had given me. It didn't feel right to take any of it. I put the necklace the homeless lady had given me in the small zippered pocket of my purse and my vial from the grave digger between my boobs.
I walked down my steps one last time.
I didn't make it very far off the property before a cloth was pressed over my nose and mouth. My airway was obstructed and I tasted a sour bitter flavor from the cloth. The world went black.
