Lilah coughed, and I shot a look at her. She and Mumbles were having far too much fun with this. Callie as well, for that matter.
“And then where will you go?” Callie asked.
“Leo hasn’t told me where he wants to go for our honeymoon, but I have many ideas, if only he would listen.”
“Leo had a hard time listening, doesn’t he?” Callie asked, grinning at me again.
“Would you stop?” I hissed at her.
She reached into a metal box on her dresser and flipped it open. I recognized the paintbrush inside—the one she’d been given following the binding trial. Without further ado, Callie pulled out a blank canvas and began to paint. She worked quickly, using a mixture of red and yellow and even a hint of blue.
“What is that?” Glimmer asked.
“Oh, just a wedding present,” Callie replied.
“It looks like a bowl.”
Callie locked eyes with me. “We have to hold the desire demon in something that can contain its sweetness, if that makes sense.”
“Sweetness?” I asked.
“Well, it has a way of holding on to the desire. In this case, it’s a sugar bowl. Or sugar vessel. It should be strong enough to store the demon and want to draw it out of her.”
“A demon?” Glimmer asked. “That sounds awful. Leo, promise me you won’t go taking care of any demons while we’re preparing for our wedding day. I don’t want anything to happen to you before I get a chance to make you all mine.”
“Of course not,” I said.
Callie laughed, then finished painting. Suddenly, the sugar bowl separated from the campus, becoming real. She set it on the dresser next to the now blank canvas again.
“Just like that?” I asked.
“This brush is unique,” she said. She stared at it as she twisted it in her fingers. “I was uncertain when we returned from the cathedral, but I have to admit that I’ve enjoyed using it. There’s magic in the brush itself, and it seems to pull something out of me.”
“I’m not so sure that we should be using what Lilith gave us,” I said.
“It’s not Lilith who gave it to me, though, is it?” Callie replied. “You gave it to me.”
I supposed that was true. “I’m still not sure.”
“You never are.”
I turned to Glimmer. It was time for me to pull the demon out of her. “I just want to check on something,” I said.
“Of course, Leo. Do whatever you want to me. I’m yours.”
It was long past time that I remove this demon from her. I didn’t want to deal with it any longer than I needed to, and I certainly didn’t want to have Glimmer keep coming on to me like that. It was creepy, especially considering how sweet she normally was. Even if what Callie had said was true and Glimmer had a crush on me, this still didn’t feel right.
I pressed my hand to her chest, careful to do so appropriately, and ignored the soft moan she made when I did. I focused, pushing power out. Now that I was connected to Morgana and Pan, I had a different kind of magic, and I used that to probe, feeling the tendrils of the desire demon that spread throughout her, practically turning her into a puppet. I knew what it would take to pry the demon free, and I began to work quickly to strip it out of her.
Glimmer moaned again.
“Damn it,” I muttered.
I pulled.
As the demon came free, I could feel it writhe as it fought to slip away, and I tried to wrap power around it. Morgana’s magic allowed me to bind the demon, and I squeezed it tightly, wrapping magic around and around it until I held it completely in place. Carefully, I finished prying the demon from Glimmer. I turned to the dresser and forced it toward the sugar bowl…
Then it burst out.
In its free state, the desire demon looked like a neon pink blob, and it streaked through the room.
“Shit!” I shouted. “Capture it!”
I had no idea if Lilah or Mumbles or even Callie would be able to do anything, but I hoped we could wrestle it down.
I lassoed it with power, trying to constrict the demon, but it was quick and slippery. It evaded my attempt and streaked toward Lilah, who dove out of the way. When it jumped toward Mumbles—which terrified me for a moment, as I feared learning who and what Mumbles would be attracted to—he scrambled to safety as well.
Callie wasn’t so lucky.
As the desire demon surged into her, her eyes widened, and then they softened. Callie turned to me, a sultry smile on her face. “Leo?” She strode closer and touched a finger to my lips. They tingled, and then she pressed up against me. “I feel so…alive.”
“Callie. You’re under the influence of the desire demon. We need to get this thing out of you.”
“Don’t marry Glimmer. You should marry me.”
I glanced at Glimmer. She still had a dazed look on her face, reminding me of the way that Nick had looked when we’d pulled the demon out of him the first time. I turned my attention back to Callie. “This isn’t you,” I said.
And it was a little bit horrifying how deeply the demon was able to make people betray their own principles. Callie didn’t want to marry. I remembered what she had said at Grim and Grimalda’s wedding: she’d made it quite clear that she wanted nothing more than to have a relationship, but not that kind of relationship. She wasn’t into marriage.
Callie leaned forward, trying to kiss me, and for a moment, I found myself struggling to resist. This was Callie, after all.
Only…it wasn’t Callie.
I reached for her, trying to pull on the demon, but before I could do more than tug, Callie gripped my hand. “You know you want me. I can feel it,” she said, pressing against me.
Unfortunately, she probably could feel it. There was something so damn seductive about Callie, and there always had been. But I had to resist at this time. I owed that to her.
“Didn’t you learn anything from Pan about giving into pleasure?” she murmured.
I liked Callie. Of course I like Callie. And if I didn’t know what was going on, I might even have been tempted. This wasn’t her, though. Whatever she really wanted, the demon was twisting it, somehow.
I looked at Lilah and Mumbles. “Any ideas?”
“Just pull it out,” Lilah said.
I tried reaching for Callie, needing to place my hands on her in order to remove the demon, but she grabbed my hand again, twisting it away and forcing it down. She grinned at me and licked her lips. “Leo,” she purred.
How was I supposed to get the demon out of Callie if she wasn’t going to allow me to do so?
A soft chuckle came from near the door, and I turned to see Circe, a stunning, six-foot-tall fairy with black hair and gold eyes in a flowing black dress.
“Maybe I could be of some assistance,” she said, smiling at me.
I groaned. Somehow, I doubted it.
4
Finally free of the demon’s influence, Glimmer blinked at me instead of fluttering her lashes. She looked down to see how she was dressed, then pulled my jacket from around her shoulders and handed it back to me. Callie glowered at her as she did.
“I’m sorry, Leo.” A bright flush came to her cheeks. “I…I really shouldn’t have done this.”