What would Josiah make of all this?

Aurora threw her arms up in the air. “Ugh. I’ll give you two some privacy. I’m going in for a drink before I murder you both.” She stalked away over the pier.

Rosalind stepped closer to Caine. Moonlight bathed his skin in milky light. With his tousled hair and sharp cheekbones, he really was stunning—obnoxiously so, in fact. As a mage, he was supposed to look like a withered hag… but if he was a demon, maybe that explained his otherworldly beauty.

He held out his hand, and she took it, edging closer to his body. Wordlessly, he lifted her wrist to his warm neck, pressing it against his smooth skin. In the night air, she could feel the heat coming off his muscled body, the blood pulsing fast in his veins. As she stood close to him, a strange thrill whispered over her skin, and she had to restrain herself from closing the last few inches between them.

He’s not human, she reminded herself. He’s a predator.

She cleared her throat. “I saw your eyes change earlier. When you were angry.”

“Yes.”

“It happens to demons. You’re not human.” It seemed an oddly personal conversation—yet she was standing here, pressing her wrist against his throat. Might as well get to know him.

“I’m half demon.”

“What kind?”

“Incubus.”

At that word, horror churned in her gut, and she snatched her arm away from him.

A look of confusion flickered across his features. “I’m not going to hurt you.”

She swallowed hard, trying to shut out the guilty thoughts echoing in her mind. “Josiah told me that all incubi were brutal rapists.”

He took a long, slow breath. “Josiah is wrong,” he said softly.

She stared at him, trying to control the thoughts swirling in her mind. But Josiah can’t be wrong—because if he is, then I’ve committed a far worse sin than I thought. “Are you sure?” she asked, her voice barely a whisper.

A mixture of emotions flitted through his gray eyes, hurt and anger among them. “Of course I’m sure. I feed off sexual energy. That’s true. But I’ve never forced anyone against their will.” The cocky smirk returned to his lips. “You’ve seen how I look. Why would I need to?”

Remorse tightened her throat. If Caine were telling the truth… She couldn’t let herself think about what she’d done—not now. She was close enough to losing her mind as it was. “But some incubi must be evil,” she said.

“Demons don’t have the same concept of evil that you have, but if you’re asking if some demons are rapists and murderers, the answer is yes. Just like humans.”

She forced the guilty memories deep into her mental vault. If she pored over them now, she’d never make it out of this situation with her wits intact. “Are there many like you?”

He shook his head. “Not many, no. And even fewer succubi. Even mages hate the females.”

“Why?”