Free Enslaved (The Inbetween Novels) by R.C. Murphy Page A

care of your problem, on one condition.”
    “What’s that?”
    “You forget you even have my phone number if you ever find yourself awake in the middle of the night. Unless your house is on fire, of course.”
    Shayla smiled, glad Kelly had such a good sense of humor. “I promise. No more wake-up calls. I’ll see you at the office.”
    “With coffee in hand.”
    “Yes, of course. Goodnight.”
    “Night.” Kelly hung up.
    Shayla tossed her phone onto the ground beside her and surveyed the damage done to her bedroom. She’d be up for hours putting everything back where it belonged.
    “Screw it.”
    She changed into an Eeyore dorm shirt and purple pajama pants. Grabbing the duvet, Shayla dragged it off the bed and watched all of her clothes fall onto the floor between the bed and the window. She shimmied the comforter free and tossed the blanket back on the bed. She’d deal with the mess after work and dinner. Sleep was far more important. A woman cannot run on caffeine alone.

 

     
    The incubi compound was crowded. Each of the numerous pantheons had at least one or two incubi from their bloodline holed away within the small compound’s gates. Wherever one turned, he ran into another handsome face. The gods, in their immense vanity, only pulled their male offspring with potential for great beauty to enter the service. The rest remained in the human realm to live out normal lives. Most of the demi-god offspring left to mortality were considered “gifted.”
    Deryck thought they were damn lucky to have been beaten with the ugly stick.
    In the back of the dining hall was a well-furnished kitchen. The males were allowed access should they decide to make their own food. Considering most of them only cared about when they’d be summoned next, the space remained virtually abandoned. Which made it an ideal location to pry more information out of Wolfrik.
    The blade of Deryck’s chef knife sliced through a large yellow onion. His nose ran and the pungent scent burned his eyes. Across the prep table, Wolfrik cleaned and skinned a fish with a level of skill professional chefs would be insanely jealous of.
    Wolfrik paused, lifting the fish skin with his knife. “Do you have any clue what people actually do on a date, aside from anticipating sex at the end?” The skin fell into a bowl they’d been using for garbage. “Which, by the way, you won’t be doing.”
    Deryck’s knife slipped. He jerked his hand out of the blade’s path and met Wolfrik’s serious gaze. “Why wouldn’t we have sex? It’s perfectly normal for two people to come together if they want to.”
    “First, most women won’t have sex on a first date. Second, your powers are still active in her realm. If you sleep with her before you are released from your incubi powers, she is in danger.”
    Deryck’s stomach dropped into his sneakers. “I’d never hurt Shayla.”
    “It is something that cannot be helped.” Wolfrik used his thumb and the sharp edge of his knife to pull the pin bones from the fish fillet. “Where are you taking her?”
    Shrugging, Deryck dumped the chopped onion into a large pot of fish stock for the soup base and grabbed a potato. “I haven’t planned anything yet.”
    “Don’t dismiss it, Deryck. Dates are important to mortals. Think of them as tests a female puts men through to determine if she wishes to venture into a relationship with him.”
    Confused, Deryck set his knife down so he wouldn’t accidentally cut himself while he sorted the whole thing out. “But she is the one destined to free me.”
    Wolfrik’s knife made quick work of cutting the fish into bite-sized chunks. “Shayla must reach the decision on her own, through her own terms. She is fully capable of freeing you; however, you must convince her it is worth the risks involved.”
    “Risks?” He did not like the idea of Shayla getting hurt because of him.
    “You’ll learn them in time. Right now, you must focus on wooing her.”
    “You should