I walk into the kitchen in my robe and slippers, Pumpkin following close behind. I take his vegetables out of the fridge and pour him his morning bowl, which he instantly gobbles down with his usual sloppy slurping sounds.

Zahra has already made a pot of coffee, so I pour myself a mug before walking into the living room.

"You look surprisingly well-rested!" Zahra says, stepping out from her office. "Were you finally able to get some sleep?"

"Actually, yeah. For once."

Despite the absolute insanity of that dream, it was the first night in a long time I actually properly slept through till morning

"Did you have more nightmares?"

"Sort of... it started out that way but... if I explain it I know it'll sound bonkers."

"More bonkers than your ex texting you about things that happen inside your dreams?"

Well, a hot bartender showed up and saved me with his magic powers. Then he tells me my ex is a nightmare demon, my dreams are real, and he's actually the king of all the demons.

Yes, I'd say that's substantially more bonkers.

"And then some," I say, rubbing my eyes and sitting down on the sofa. Zahra sits across from me in the armchair. "So remember the hot bartender I told you about?"

"Yeah, the one you said was like, unreal beautiful?"

"That's the one. Well, he showed up in the dream."

"Whoa. That's new. There's never been anyone else before, right?"

"Never. Then he shows up and basically launches Vic across the room and tells him to leave me alone."

"Wow," she says, her eyes wide as she nods.

"He said that he and Victor are both..." I pause. I'm not sure I want to share all of the details, especially since I can still barely wrap my head around them myself. "He said they both have the ability to influence people's dreams."

Her eyebrows shoot up and her eyes get wider still.

"Big time wow."

I'm leaving out the demon part. I know this is already nigh impossible to believe, so I don't want to push it. I don't even know if I believe it myself.

"You think I've lost it, don't you?" I ask, letting my head fall into my hands.

"No, not at all babe." She gives me a reassuring pat on the knee. "This actually reminds me of something my mom has said to me before. She believes that dreams exist on a spiritual plane of sorts, and when human souls go there, they can be visited by godly beings or demons."

My heart skips a beat as she says it.

"Demons??"

That was the last thing I expected her to say.

"Yeah, she would say that good dreams are messages from God and bad dreams were from the Devil. I don't think that's literal, of course, but maybe she's got a point with it being another plane. A lot of cultures have a concept of dream walking, maybe there's something to it."

"Yeah..."

Or maybe you were right on with the demon thing.

"It's just a lot to process," I add. "This is well beyond anything I am capable of dealing with."

"I mean, normal explanations kinda went out the window when your ex started traveling between your dreams and reality."

"How did my life get so fucked up?"

"Well, maybe it's not anymore. Maybe that was the last of it and he'll go away after this."

I wish I could be so sure.

*****

I put my day clothes in my bag and shove everything in my locker. I fix a couple of loose strands of hair in the mirror and look over my outfit. I picked a schoolgirl-inspired look for tonight: super-short red plaid skirt, fishnet shorts underneath, black heels with black socks, and a black long-sleeve semi-sheer crop top over a black bra. I don't usually go for themed outfits, but I'm loving this look right now.

"Who's out on stage now?" I ask the other dancer in the dressing room. I know we've met before, but I'm still kind of new here and I can't for the life of me remember her name.

"Sasha and Quinn are doing a double on the main stage," she says. "I can't remember who's out on the side stages right now. There may be one open now, but I think there's a rotation soon."

"Oh hellll no," my friend Tia says as she walks in. "Don't you dare go out before me, Sammy. I love you, but I will kill you."

"Why?" I ask, fixing my lipstick.

"Because they'll spend all their money on you and be tapped out by the time I get up there."

"I'll take that as a compliment, T."

"You doing a little better today? I know you've been off for a while and you called in sick yesterday, but you look good."

Oh, that? I finally slept because a demon beat up my ex in my dream.

"Yeah, so far so good."

"Well good to hear," she says with a smile. "But I'm going out there before you get a chance."

She ducks out and heads onto the club floor. I peek my head around the corner and see that the club is pretty busy, which usually means a good night to earn. For the past few months, I've checked the crowd to make sure Vic isn't around, but tonight I find myself scanning the room hoping to see a certain bartender.

What are you doing, Sam? Why would he be here?

These dreams have gotten to my head and now I can't stop thinking about Kieran. Unsurprisingly, he doesn't seem to be here, but I breathe a sigh of relief that Victor isn't either.

I push all the dream nonsense out of my head and straighten my posture. Tonight, I'm just a normal dancer and I'm going to have a normal night and normal dreams and everything will be fine.

*****

My eyes shoot open as I feel a presence in the room. The familiar haze in the air tells me it's happening again.

No no no.

I sit up in bed and switch on the light, but I see no one.

"I know you're here," I say, my voice shaky. "What the fuck do you want?"

"Shit, I'm so sorry. Don't freak out, it's just me," a male voice says.

A figure appears through the darkness, but it's not Victor—it's him.

"Kieran?" I ask, rubbing my eyes as I take him in. My heart is still racing, but now for an entirely different reason.

I've never seen him with his hair down before, but he's even more gorgeous. His dark locks have a bit of a wave, falling just above his shoulders with a few shorter strands that frame his face. He's wearing a loose-fitting grey tank top and a few layered beachy, beaded necklaces.

"Sorry, I really didn't mean to scare you. I wanted to check in on you and make sure you're okay."

"Oh," I say, looking around the room. "So he's not... here?"

"No, doll. I could sense him if he was here." His brow creases as he walks over to me and sits at the foot of the bed. "He really fucked with your head, didn't he?"

I'm embarrassed that he's right. I let Vic get inside my mind and scare me. I'm letting him run my life.

"I guess I'm not as strong as I thought I was."

"I didn't mean it like that, I promise."

"No, it's fine," I say, sweeping my hair behind my ear. "I know it's true. I'm just embarrassed to be seen at such a weak moment."

He crosses his ankle over his knee and looks at me.

"I don't measure people by those terms—weak, strong; it's all temporary states. Nobody is any one thing. But we all start and end in weakness. I like to think of it as a lesson."

"A lesson?"

"Yeah. We all start out weak and innocent. Some people see it as motivation to be tougher, to never let themselves be vulnerable again, but they've got it all wrong. That experience is a reminder for everyone—to have compassion for people instead of taking advantage of them. You can be the strongest guy in the room, but if you don't remember what it feels like to be the weakest, then you'll never learn a damn thing."

Wow. Of all the conversations I expected to have with a demon, this is not one of them.

"I don't understand you," I say with a laugh. "One minute you're all sexual innuendos and jokes and the next you're Aristotle."

"Gotta keep you on your toes, Red. Wouldn't want you to think I'm too predictable." He shoots me a breathtaking smile and I suddenly want to do very R-rated things to him.

Maybe this can be one of those kinds of dreams.

Wait, is he working some kind of demon magic on me?

"Are you... do you suck out women's souls and impregnate them?"

He coughs and his eyes flash wide.

"Have you been googling since we last spoke?"

"Maybe. I don't know what's true and what's myth. I mean, you certainly don't look like the pictures."

He chuckles slightly and shakes his head.

"First things first, I don't impregnate anybody. That's actually, like, really hard to do for an Incubus. I won't go into the details because it's kind of gnarly, but it's not something you can do on accident."

"Wow, okay."

"And I don't eat people's souls exactly. I mean, now that I'm king I don't even need to feed at all, but when I was just an Incubus I fed on human sexual energy. That's why Incubi and Succubi seduce their victims instead of just killing them. You'll get a lot more energy from a willing participant."

"So you turn people on to like... fatten them up with horniness?"

He lets out a low, hearty laugh that has me biting down on my lower lip. Maybe it's that I haven't had sex in half a year. Or maybe it's his weird demon sex magic working its way through my veins. But damn, it is hard to be in the same room as this man without tearing off his clothes and having my way with him.

"I wouldn't have put it that way, but yeah, pretty much."

"So you have some sort of special powers of seduction, right? That's why I feel this way?"

His brows raise and his eyes snap to mine, darker than before.

"What way am I making you feel?" he says, a smirk tugging at his lips.

Why do men always make you spell it out for them?

"You tell me. You're the demon, you know your own powers."

"Yeah, sure." He licks his lips and looks at me like a starved man presented with a meal. "So, you might feel a strong pull to me, like you want to touch me."

"Mmhmm..." I chew on my lower lip, trying not to give away too much.

"Maybe a strong desire to do other naughty things with me." He seems to be fighting back a smile.

That explains the extreme hotness. Nobody is this good-looking.

"I knew it was some sort of demon juju," I say.

He licks his lower lip then sucks it between his teeth, his eyes firmly set on mine.

"So you're saying you want to sleep with me?"

"No, I'm not." I cross my arms as I feel a blush creep over my cheeks. "I'm just admitting that I'm affected by your demon powers. I'm only human after all."

"Yeah I lied about that. I don't have those powers, I just wanted to hear you say that you want me."

I scoff in surprise and he laughs.

What an asshole.

I grab a nearby pillow and hit him in the shoulder with it.

"You suck!" I yell, pelting him several times with the pillow.

"Sometimes," he replies, shooting me a wink as he grabs the pillow from my hands.

"I'm gonna get you back for that one."

"Sure you are."

"Oh you're asking for it, now. Better watch your back."

"It's on, doll."

I glare at him, but his eyes and smile soften my anger.

"You don't seem like a demon, ya know. You're not trying to eat me, for starters."

He raises a brow and opens his mouth, but then shakes his head.

"Demons get a bad rap, not all of us are bad. It's just like humans—some are dicks, some are great."

"Do you kill people?"

"I don't anymore," he says with a sigh. "But I haven't always been able to control my powers."

"Oh." He seems uncomfortable about the topic.

Does that mean he's a demon with feelings?

◆

A/N: Thanks so much for reading as always! If you like my stuff and want to check out a completed book, please check out my celebrity romance Meet Me Backstage! Not to brag or anything, y'all, but I love it a lot. (And if you've already read it, you can convince your fellow readers to check it out in the comments!) Find it in my profile or click the link in the comments to read.