Fuck, I knew Gabriella had shared a lot, but obviously that wasn’t something she mentioned, and I could imagine why — her mom wouldn’t have dared meet me then. But then, that made me wonder what else my fiancé had neglected to mention…
“I’m assuming that’s a yes,” Mrs. Rebecca said quietly, in response to my reaction.
“I would never do that to you, or anyone else I cared about,” I replied somberly. “I only did it to my sister once accidentally.”
Serenity immediately spoke up. “Yeah, but you didn’t really make me do anything, aside from when we practiced. You just lowered my inhibitions for me to do what I already wanted deep down.”
Mrs. Rebecca’s tone was reserved, speaking to Serenity. “And what did you do?” she wondered seriously.
My sister looked at her in surprise. “Oh, well the first time I just kissed him. But that’s all. And then when we practiced, he just had me do pushups,” she added with a grimace.
Unexpectedly, a small smile touched Mrs. Rebecca’s full lips as she glanced at me. “You were hoping he’d make you do something more fun,” she said bluntly in obvious amusement.
My sister focused on her in surprise at the assumption, her face flushing red just slightly, some of her brown hair darkening in the back, only to quickly return to normal. “Umm, sort of,” she admitted, glancing away.
I could understand why.
Admitting to that kind of thing was normally a big ‘no-no.’
But dang, Serenity handled that ‘almost-transformation’ pretty well, although I knew it might just be because she wasn’t as embarrassed as she might be otherwise, since it was obvious Mrs. Watson knew about our relationship at this point.
However, that suddenly made a particular thought jump to the forefront of my thoughts…
Did Mrs. Rebecca know about that? The fact I could change people?
Obviously, she knew I could transform, but did she know her daughter could too? Did she know I’d changed her daughter permanently?
I mean, surely she must!
Especially considering my fiancé was likely transformed last night…
But suddenly all I could think about was the fact that Gabriella still looked normal when shifted. She looked normal!
Which meant, while I felt as if it was unlikely, it was very possible Mrs. Rebecca either hadn’t noticed the more tan skin, or else possibly my fiancé gave a totally different excuse to explain it. Fuck, I needed to ask Gabriella as soon as I got a chance, since I knew that might be another aspect of my existence that her mom might want to know about.
Dammit, for all I knew, Serenity shifting right now might have given this woman a figurative heart-attack from the shock.
Gabriella’s mom unexpectedly frowned then, as she focused back on me, meeting and holding my gaze…
Remaining completely silent.
Awkwardly silent.
I cleared my throat, suspecting she was probably still focused on the compulsion thing. “That doesn’t, like, bother you a bunch, does it?” I asked hesitantly.
Her brow furrowed slightly. “I looked into your gold eyes last night without fear. But now…” She took a deep breath, still holding my normal colored gaze. “After the experience we shared, I want to trust you. After learning about how Gabby feels about you, I want to trust you. But if you can really do such a thing, then…well, it’s a tough pill to swallow.”
I grimaced, wondering if this was a nice way to tell me that we wouldn’t be fucking anymore.
“I understand,” I said simply, glancing away again, trying to hide my grief.
“Mom,” Gabriella said hesitantly, seeming to pick up on the same thing as I was. Or at least picking up on my reaction.
However, Mrs. Watson just shook her head, immediately silencing her. She then sighed. “So, do you mind if I take a look at the stone now?”
I nodded, still averting my gaze, the opened box in my lap. “Umm, yeah. Sure, go ahead.”
She nodded as well, neatly folding the piece of paper, only to replace it and carefully grasp the smooth midnight rock in the same motion. She then held it in her open palm, slowly drawing it closer to her face, as if she were peering beyond the smooth black surface. At the same time, she appeared to be working her mouth a little, as if she was chewing on her tongue.
She then unexpectedly spat on the rock.
Instantly, her entire body went rigid, her green eyes flying open wide, even as her spit loudly sizzled and rapidly disappeared, as if the rock was a piece of hard lava.
“Mom!” Gabriella nearly shrieked, jumping up from her seat next to Serenity.
I jumped up too, reaching out to grab her shoulder, only for her to thaw out the moment I made contact.
“Calm down,” she chastised us both immediately. “I’m alright.”
I quickly let go, not wanting to overstep her boundaries, when I suddenly wasn’t even sure I was welcome to touch her anymore. However, she didn’t seem to react to my touch either way, still focusing on the rock.
“Shit, mom,” Gabriella said in relief. “Warn us next time.”
She shook her head, glancing up at her daughter and then focusing down at the stone again. “I wouldn’t have been able to warn you, as this is the first time I’ve come into contact with such a powerful object.”
Gabriella and I exchanged a glance across from Serenity, both of us deciding to sit back down, before my fiancé spoke up again. “And what does it do?”
Mrs. Watson frowned, glancing up at me. “This is definitely a message, but I can also confirm there is something else here too. Something that’s not a message. However, I am not magically adept enough to determine what it is, or if it’s even bad.” She paused. “I would assume it’s bad, considering how the woman you spoke of, Michelle, reacted to it.”
Shit, did that mean that Michelle was someone more magically adept? Was that why she could sense that there was something bad here? Or did that even have anything to do with it?
“But you know it’s a message?” I tried clarifying.
Mrs. Rebecca nodded. “Yes, since I saw the ‘greeting.’ A greeting that is only revealed to those who are not meant to listen to the message.”
I stared at her in shock. “You did? How? In your head?”
She nodded. “Yes. A rather appealing female voice said…” She paused. “Well, it was short enough, so I’ll just quote her. She said, ‘Hello, this contains a message for my precious little boy. Please ensure he receives it.’”
I just stared at her in shock, feeling stunned at the idea of those words being what Mrs. Rebecca really heard, as well as the possible implications, assuming the woman speaking was truly sincere.
It was really from my mom, and it didn’t sound like the message was meant to be a bad thing.
But then, that could only mean someone added a bad thing to it.
My father? Would he do that?
Or was it possible a third unknown party was responsible?
After a few seconds, Mrs. Rebecca continued. “No doubt, that particular greeting was meant for your biological father, or whoever she initially gave the stone to. Otherwise, if she expected a stranger to come across this, then she might have given more specific details of where either you or she might be located, in order to deliver or return the stone.”
I felt like my head was spinning as I tried to wrap my thoughts around this.
“S-So then, there really is a message. But something else possibly bad is there too,” I said, just repeating the obvious out loud.
She nodded, her brow furrowing as she focused on the rock in her hand again. “Yes, it appears that is the case…” She paused, only to sigh. “I know someone I might be able to ask, but getting a favor from her can be problematic. Especially if it’s a favor for you.”
I focused on her in surprise. “Why is that? Because I’m part-incubus?”
She nodded slowly. “That is exactly the reason why.” She frowned. “Unfortunately, the few people I know who have any kind of supernatural lineage all have a distaste for incubi in particular.”
I frowned as well. “Yeah, I can imagine why. Hard to blame them.”
Mrs. Watson looked at me in surprise, only to frown again as she reached over to return the stone to the black wooden chest. “Hey, can I speak to you in private for a moment?” she asked seriously.
I was shocked, seeing in the corner of my eye that both Serenity and Gabriella were shocked too, the two of them glancing at each other and then me. And then I began feeling nervous, wondering if she planned on telling me plainly that she wouldn’t be able to teach me anymore, especially since I couldn’t imagine what else she might want to share in private.
Fuck.
Fuck, fuck, fuck.
I sighed heavily. “Umm, yeah, that’s fine.”
She nodded, standing up and focusing on her daughter. “We’ll be right back. There’s just something I want to ask him really quick.”
“Oh, umm, okay,” Gabriella replied hesitantly, exchanging another glance with my older sister. “No problem. We’ll just make ourselves comfortable.”
“Please do,” she agreed warmly, only to motion to me to follow her.
Due to the nearest low coffee table being in the way, we ended up going the long way around the couch, toward the humungous widescreen TV on the wall, and then back toward my two women as we made our way to the stairs. I tried not to look at them, simply because I didn’t want to exchange an awkward glance and reveal I was really uncomfortable right now.
When we reached the stairs, I could see the well-kept kitchen just beyond them, quickly focusing up at Mrs. Rebecca as she began climbing, trying not to lust over her juicy ass in those tight jeans, never mind her thick thighs, especially when I knew the thing she wanted to talk to me about might not be pleasant.
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