The Lure of the Devil (The Demons' Muse #4) - Auryn Hadley Page 0,25

to pretend that you are not a woman now?"

Her hand moved to the back of my head, and her fingers teased the short hair against my neck. "I liked the part about making messes. I think that was when you convinced me, Bel. But do you really want to hear all about my gross period stuff?"

"Yes," Nick said as he dropped onto the bed beside her. "I want to hear all about all of your stuff."

She finally giggled, and it was the most beautiful sound in the world. My wife had taken so long to believe that I honestly cared. Sia? She'd figured it out in less than a day. And if we could teach her that this was nothing to worry about, then it would only be easier when we faced the next problem - whatever that might be.

With my head held against her hip, I looked up at Nick, not surprised at all to find him looking back. He didn't say a thing, but he bobbed his head slightly, letting me know that he was on the same page. This was our woman. Ours, and we would not let her be treated as lesser. We would never allow her to be ashamed of herself for any reason. Our job was to teach her that she was the most amazing creature any of the worlds had ever seen.

And we were doing it together.

7

Sienna

Sleeping between Bel and Nick was more comfortable than I expected. Neither one hogged the covers. Both of them had a way of curling up around me without waking up. It was nice, even though I'd kinda been nervous about it. Mostly because I'd been warned that they didn't share well. Personally, I disagreed. The two of them were adorably cute with me.

In truth, I liked this. I had three boyfriends, a best friend, and Luke. Ron preferred to be Luke's boyfriend, so calling him my best friend made that easier. He wasn't actually the "best" one, though. Things with me and the guys had found this comfortable balance, and it was working. They didn't get mad at me when I worried or raged about things. I didn't get mad at them when they forgot how new this lifestyle was to me. Instead, we just talked it out.

Which was how we all ended up sitting in the living room while rain pattered against the roof. Luke had built a small fire in the hearth to chase off the humidity, but not big enough to make the house hot. We'd brought all the pillows into the room, and I was lying on the floor with Sam. Nick and Bel each had an end of the couch, and Ron was curled up by the chair where Luke sat. It was casual, but only because this talk wasn't going to be the fast kind. It had started when Sam asked how the bubble was going.

"Our natural bodies might be a problem," I said, gesturing to Ron. "His is painful, and that's not fair."

Sam grunted in disappointment. "Yeah, it's not. So is there something else we can do?"

"It's fine," Ron insisted. "Nick had a valid point. If this is going to be our sanctuary, then all of you deserve to have your real bodies. There's no need for me to run here, and not enough space to fly, so I'll be fine."

"I'm not ok with that," I said again.

"I'm with Sia," Luke said.

"I don't like being a fairy," Bel admitted, sounding almost like he was ashamed of it. "I feel too small."

"So, what's the compromise?" Nick asked.

I'd already figured this out. "Ok, so if you make the change, can you revert it? Or is it one shot and done?"

"Dove, I don't even know if I can make the change," he told me.

I just nodded. "Then, if I alter his body on Daemin, would that affect it here?"

"Should..." Nick said, looking to Ron for confirmation.

He shrugged. "No way to know. Nick, it's only theoretically possible to mix the skins of all worlds in one place. It's easier to remove the skins, which would mean that any adjustments to my body would revert as soon as I left and came back."

Nick's eyes slowly moved over to me. "What if, instead of altering his skin, you tried to heal his joints? Sia, you can do miraculous things. Why can't changing his natural body be one of them?"

"Still not willing to risk it unless you can change it back if this doesn't work." I looked