Page 44 of Craving Demons

For a moment, I thought about offering her some of my way-too-many sex toys. If she was going to be horny, she might as well have something to help her get off. But I quickly dismissed that idea. I was fairly certain the last thing she wanted was sex toys from her mother.

I didn’t really want to check in to see if Donny was also feeling turned on, but I did. Slipping into his room, I heard soft grunts coming from his ensuite. That was enough. No part of me wanted to know what my sixty-year-old uncle was doing that caused grunting in the bathroom.

I went down to the basement of the house to hopefully put more distance between myself and my housemates, slumped on a couch, and put on whatever happened to be on TV, not really watching it.

It was clear I was affecting those around me. And that, for whatever reason, seemed to solidify for me that I was indeed something different, a daemon, or whatever.

It still seemed ridiculous, but I was apparently running out of denial.

I sighed. If this was all true then I really should learn to control it. I’d go in early to work tonight and talk to Harmonia again.

When the doorbell rang, I froze up with trepidation for a long moment. It was only after a follow-up knock, that I rose and went to the door.

Through the spy hole, I saw a bored-looking man in a courier’s uniform so I opened the door.

The guy took one look at me, his eyes widening.

“Whoa,” he breathed. “You’re—” He swallowed hard and cleared his throat, regaining some composure. “You’re Anais Baker, yes?”

“Yes.”

He handed over a small envelope. “This is for you. And could you please sign here that you received it?”

He held up a tablet with a big box for a signature. I flicked my finger over it, and he was satisfied with that.

“Have a good day, miss.” He smiled at me and tried to walk backward down the stairs leading up to my door, but missed the last step and tumbled into the sidewalk. Still grinning stupidly at me, he picked himself up and made his way over to a moped.

I sighed and closed the door.

The only mark on the envelope was an old-fashioned wax seal with a stylized “f” pressed into it. I slid my finger under the seal to loosen it, then opened the envelope and drew out a thick card.

You are cordially invited to lunch with:

Chef Fenris Lokisen

at

The Aesir Restaurant and Bistro

11:30 October 8th

Please arrive by the side door in the alley off East 74thStreet

Fen was invitingme to lunch… and he was a chef?

He hadn’t mentioned that. He’d looked like a sexy construction worker when we’d first met, but perhaps the man had many talents.

The eighth was tomorrow.

A thrill of anticipation rushed through me making my heart flutter and my body shiver with warmth.

I was going to see Fen again.

Yeah, vibrators could do a lot, but they couldn’t quite mimic this feeling of joy.

And even though I had most of a day to get myself in order, I rushed up to my room to pick out something to wear. The invitation hadn’t said anything about formal attire, so I looked up the restaurant online and found a small section where it suggested guests wear jackets and formal wear. Good. A part of me wanted to dress up for Fen… specifically in something that would be easy to get out of.

I thought we were off men?the horny part of my mind mocked.