Maria barely managed the walk back to her apartment from her University's library—thank God he had the sense to let her clothes settle back to normal, otherwise she'd be quite exposed, walking the block off campus to her apartment building. She found herself clinging to the ring...Mark gave her. Her brain still hesitated over calling an exotic monster such a simple name. He likely chose his name to blend in with humans, after all.

That ring felt like a talisman against anyone following her—not that they did usually, but she had a scare once or twice before she met Nico.

Thinking about him brought out the self-loathing. How could I keep dating a guy I never slept with and basically fuck two different men without a shred of remorse—or so wholly forget him while being caught up in lust? It really brought home how much of a convenience her boyfriend was, not any trace of being compatible. That wasn't to blame him—she should have noticed her lack of interest in him for what it was instead of wondering if the problem was her interest in sex altogether. Maria's time with the Fey taught her she was not who she thought she was, although she'd still like to think she wouldn't normally cheat. Clearly she could be as carnal as any sinner out there. It was hard to fight against feeling ashamed.

Tomorrow was what she kept telling her mind on the last block from her apartment. Maria would call him over on Sunday and break up with him. She needed sleep, for now. There hadn't been a lot of that in the Otherworld.

Her building was an old Victorian, split into two small flats on each of the three floors, and a studio in the attic—that one was hers, honestly the most expensive one, chosen by her father before he threatened to cut her off.

Maria jogged up the flights of stairs and immediately grabbed PJs before going in the bathroom.

This was the heart of the whole build, a room covered in mirrors with a freestanding claw tub centered under a rain shower head built in next to a skylight. The room gently sloped to a drain under the tub, alleviating the need for curtains. The toilet was out of sight behind a mirrored door. After her newfound experience, she realized that this room was built to watch yourself have sex in.

Now that she could see it, she couldn't stop imagining doing it. Take her shirt off with a man behind her, nuzzling her neck? Undoing pants with a man's hand dipping below to trace whatever he could reach as they stood there?

Maria hurriedly used the toilet to try and break the mood and wound up jostling forward the memory of her grandmother saying she was pregnant.

Back out in front the mirrors, she cupped a breast—not for lust although the sensitivity made that an option. She well overflowed her hand. It felt heavier than before.

Maria could remember Lugh laying across her with his head between them, complementing her body. "I love that your breasts perfectly fill my hands. Everything about you was made to tempt me."

"Really?"

He didn't waste any time showing her. She blushed as she realized that this was the first clear memory she had of the man—all because that was the 4th climax that Mark remembered for her. His name was Lugh, very close to Luke.

Did they ever talk about a baby? Maria didn't know. She decided to soak in the tub and ignore reality for a little while longer.

Half an hour later—better able to ignore the room and her thoughts—she got out and dressed, wrapping up her hair to care for it after she checked her phone.

That was still on her bed, where she had left it. The phone calls and texts from her father were lengthy, all the same insanity until the last one, a simple "call me", around the time that she had wandered in the generic part of Catania.

Pops picked up on the first ring.

"Hi daddy."

"Maria, come home and we can sort everything out."

"I have midterms next week, and will graduate this next year. I can't just leave."

"You will come home and give me grandchildren that your grandmother likes or you are cut off, little girl."

"She called you, didn't she? Did she tell you I traveled out there?"

" What are you going on about, girl? That's more than a 24 hour round trip!"

" Imagine letting your little girl think this was about money instead of powers humans don't possess. I can't inherit, Pops."

"What did you do?!"

" I fucked an Irish fairy."

"What does this have to do with a gay man?!"

"Not crappy old man slang, dad, another power! I sealed my own chance by fucking the wrong power because you didn't make anything clear about what I was messing with! You screwed this up, not me."

"You're not my daughter. Your lease is up at the end of the month. Don't bother to come home, you're the demon's toy now."

He hung up before Maria could ask what he meant, but shook it off to call Nico.

Nico had not called or texted during that time away, which was strange but not near as worrisome as her father. He, too picked up fairly early. "Hey baby."

"What are you doing?"

"Watching a porn."

That explained the noises she could hear over the line. That was one overacting female.

This was the thing she hated about him the most. Before this trip, she couldn't understand the need, even. But still, every time she called him he was watching porn. She suspected he watched them during his classes, even. The frequency astounded her.

Well, until today. Maria understood the addiction of lust. She just didn't feel it towards him, not even when trying to imagine him with her now that she knew. It shook her a little, how willing she was to marry a man she didn't desire.

"You want to come over tomorrow?"

"Sure, just gotta cancel a session with my trainer, and I'll be there for lunch. Is that cool?"

Maria mentally groaned. That meant cooking a meal on her now limited funds, and the man was a pig. But it was best to have it over with. "Sure, Nico. I can have a Lasagna made by then."

"That's good. I'll bring a wine. "

Like she could drink much of that. She never passed on it before, and it would really give him something to think about, once they were done talking. She felt like this conversation was screwed already. "Alright... Well, have fun."

"I always do."

He hung up without a traditional goodbye.

Really, her father and her boyfriend weren't options for the future. What the hell else was she going to do? Thankfully she had three weeks to figure it out. Most likely, she'd take out a student loan for the time being—since she couldn't touch her school funds directly, nor could her father. So much for not going into debt.