The Cambion's Hoard

The wind rustled the curtains and plastic tarps in the room. When Wallace had shifted the hose everything was fresh, even the paint on the walls. The white wasn't doing it for me, Henson didn't like it much either so we had decided to add our flare. Not only that the main house needed some protection from unintended spills.

"Henson!" I put my roller down and stepped back.

Henson's foot falls thudded on the stairs. "Yeah?"

He came into the room and stopped. I had made a mural on the wall of roses and smoke. This was going to be my space with Rose.

"That is incredible." Henson came to stand beside me and put his hand on my shoulder.

"You think she'll like it?" I looked at my friend, and he grinned.

"She'll love it. You don't have to worry about that. She may spend most of her time in here. I only painted our room gray."

I shoved him. "Shit, you are building a bed that can only be qualified as a nest. Its huge and intricate. If you have enough blankets she'll never leave."

"I'm excited she gets to come home tomorrow. I've missed her. I just wish Biggs was coming home too." He took a deep breath, trying not to cry.

The last week had been hell for both of us, each in different ways. I was dealing with Gida, Kelley and feeling of failing my family. Hen's parents were torn about the situation, while they wanted him to be happy they were afraid he'd be hurt again. To top that off we were trying to figure out how to help Rose and make a space for Biggs to continue to heal.

Patti came over after her visit with Rose at the hospital the week prior. The information about her evolving becoming a true Cambion was a lot to take in. The two of us were determined to help her with the transition from human to demi-succubus. I'd called Linus after she left and he said he'd come over to talk with us.

"Let's focus on what we can. He's healing, and if we can help Rose heal, we can see if she can expedite that process. I don't want her wearing herself out but, if we want them both back, it might be the only way." I hugged Henson to me.

We stood there for a few minutes in the gentle breeze. A car door closed in the distance. I stepped back from Henson.

"That must be Linus."

Hen groaned. "He doesn't like us."

I chuckled sadly. "No, but he loves Rose. She loves us. He'll deal."

We headed down as the front door opened. Linus was dressed in black dress slacks and a blood red shirt. His hair was slicked back. It was obvious why he could command a group of demons without much incident. He was a king.

"I hope I wasn't interrupting." His voice was cool.

"We've been painting and straightening up for Rose's home coming tomorrow." I led Linus into the kitchen.

"Can I get you something to drink?" I moved to the fridge.

Linus sat in the chair on the far side of the room. Henson took up one on the other side of the table.

"Do you have coffee?" He leaned against the table, arms steepled before him, fingers on lips. He was a serious business man.

"Yep, I have to roast the beans real quick." I pulled a bag out of a cabinet and set to work making the coffee. Biggs and Henson usually did this but I knew how too.

"You roast your own coffee?"

Henson laughed. "Yeah. Biggs owns a coffee farm, its called Dragon Fire."

Linus nodded his head. "I didn't realize all of you were such entrepreneurs."

It was my turn to laugh. "We don't have much of a choice. I think we're getting cut out of the family hoard. Then again we expected that some time ago, let downs that we are."

Linus regarded me with serious eyes. Rose had always said the man could make anyone squirm, whether it be serious or sexual. He didn't have to try with either.

"I don't think the three of you are let downs. While you're young and party animals, you know what you want for your future. If your family cannot see that, that is their problem. I'd see you as failures if you didn't take care of my daughter." His tone softened. He loved Rose, more than I think she'd ever given him credit.

"She's our mate Linus, we're lucky to be able to care for her." Henson came over and started helping me with the coffee.

Linus smiled. "I'm happy she's found a mate within our world. I do not believe a human would be able to care for her as she needs."

I looked at Linus as I blew fire over the beans. Biggs had perfected the technique of roasting with dragon fire. He had a team that would roast large batches in their pseudo forms. He had tapped into a market that was growing rapidly.

"Human men are idiots. If I ever meet one of her ex's I'll set them on fire." Henson hit me.

"No, she wouldn't like that." He grabbed the tray of beans from me and dumped them into his giant mortar.

"I didn't say kill them, singe their hair a little." I snorted.

Linus bust out into laughter. "Oh I'd love to see that. I've met a few, they'd been to the club. I let Sly handle them."

We laughed at that. "Sly would have made them forget their own names and hand over their lives."

Linus's gaze was truly devilish. "Oh she did so much more than that. No one hurts her best friend. Plus everything she did was legal."

We worked quietly for a few moments before joining Linus at the table. He sipped his coffee and let out a contented sigh.

"This is good. You should make some up for the Cormorants as a gift. Candace would love it." He set his mug down. "However, let's get to business."

Hen and I glanced at each other. We needed to understand how Rose was changing. If we had really awoken the succubus in her, we needed to know what to do to help her.

"Patti said that Rose is going to change and we don't quite understand how that is happening. She's always been a succubus, how can she be becoming one?"

Linus took another sip of his drink. "Rose has always been more human than succubus. She wasn't exposed to the world of Others. Her mother and I decided it was for the best considering all of the attention her conception had received. In hindsight it was a mistake. She's unprepared for what is about to happen to her."

Henson held his hands up and shook his head. "I don't get it. I'm struggling to grasp how Rose is about to change. Nothing is really different."

"Its not? Even your own relationship has evolved. You have two defined mates now, not one love and mate. Thatcher now has a defined mate. I'd say everything is different. Rose did not have the experiences needed to awaken her latent abilities. Honestly until she met you, she may have remained stagnate in her growth."

"Will you just tell us what the fuck we're supposed to do to support her through this transition. I'm tired of the shaded comments and skirting of answers. This is not helping her." I squeezed my hands together.

Linus regarded me with his cool stare. "Rose will need to feed more. There are days where she may seem insatiable. There are days where she'll be normal. Her body will need to be satisfied. This hunger isn't like a craving for food, its a craving for lust. It may be different for her even still, as she is mated. Our kind doesn't normally take mates, its rare. For Rose it may be that she needs to be touched, cocooned in the embrace of her mates. But know that she will take what she needs. She will use her gifts of influence if she has to to take what she needs."

"Oh all she has to do is look at us. I'll drop to my knees and do whatever the fuck she asks of me." I was taken back by the bluntness of my response.

Linus grinned. "She has a hold on you. We call mates our last conquest or final seduction depending. The three of you are lucky that you are her first and final seductions. No one will be able to satisfy her like the three of you. Don't hold back if she asks for more, give her everything."

"We will." Henson grabbed my hand and squeezed it. He was right, we would give her whatever she needed, whenever she needed it.

"I don't want to ask this but I'm going to. On the first day in the hospital when the surgeon that operated on Biggs came in to talk to us. He said she magic dumped and I wouldn't say that it was that at all. He also said she had an aura to do it again. I knew she was exhausted but, but could she?" It made me sick to ask that of her. I knew how much it had drained her, nearly killed her.

He nodded his head. "With proper training she can heal Biggs. Its not a common gift, and of course it is dependent that you are mates. You are right it is not transference, at least not in the regard you are familiar with. She was pushing her essence through him. There is a way to do it properly so that it comes back, but she didn't know that.

"I've reached out to an old acquaintance of mine that knows how to do that. She can help her. She'll be able to help Biggs. Let's give her a few days at home, in your care to build up her essence reserves."

" I don't intend on leaving her side. She needs me." My jaw set in determination. I meant what I had said I was going to give her everything.