House of Daemon

Chapter 1

Monday nights were Treven. I met him my third year at Littlewood Heritage University, while I was in undergrad. We were in chemistry together and although we both needed help, we didn’t find that in each other. No, but we did find solace in each other’s misery.

Eventually, we fell into a rhythm of meeting every Monday night in whoever’s dorm was empty. It seemed to work best on Mondays because we were free and yet our roommates had always been tied up with other things.

I stayed at LHU for graduate school. Treven hadn’t for the first year of his graduate program, but he ended up transferring back. Don’t get romantic ideas. This was physical only. He had a great body and an even better cock. Most of the time, he didn’t even have to do anything. I could work myself on his dick just fine.

Yea, he was one of them. He wasn’t a lazy lover, or even uninterested in finding my pleasure. I was just better at finding my pleasure using him. Treven didn’t mind. We used each other and were happy to do so.

What I liked about Treven was, we didn’t need to talk a whole lot. This year we had been using my room. There were two other girls, but we all had separate bedrooms, connected by a large living space. They were technically dorms. They were on campus but felt more like an apartment.

Anyway, the other girls got up early Tuesday mornings which left Treven and I to take our time crawling out of bed and messing around in the shower to wake up. And we’d always end our play time with him washing my hair. I think it was just as soothing for him as it was for me.

I had Tuesdays off.

There were nine days left. Nine. And then I’d be receiving my Doctor of Philosophy in Advanced Educational Studies. I was excited about my career but terrified about what it meant.

Leaving the security I’d built for the last seven years while I pursued my degree. Putting distance between the friends I made who actually cared if I showed up. Creating a family among my peers that facilitated support and growth.

When I left LHU, I’d have nothing.

That’s what happens when you’ve been running since you were a child. Running from the world you should have been protected within. I’ve been hiding in plain sight since I broke free. Surrounded by humans.

I wasn’t a species that was easily identified. What made me different was subtle enough that it was easily hidden.

It also put a massive target on my head, since my kind had been all but eradicated. Somehow, I slipped through their careful genocide.

I’d since learned that being surrounded by a whole lot of densely packed people kept me well hidden, without having to actually hide.

And when I graduated? What then? I chose my degree specifically because it could keep me in this type of setting. But it also meant the fun was gone.

Monday nights were Treven. Thursday nights were Oliver.

Oliver I’d also met earlier on. Second or third year of undergraduate, when I had to get heavy into mathematics. Let me just say, I did not have a mathematical mind. I’d sought tutoring in the form of a peer tutor. That brought me to Oliver.

He looked like any stereotypical geeky math major might. Tall, lean, neatly kept with glasses. He’d come to my room several times as he tried different ways to teach me what I just wasn’t getting. After the fourth time, he sat back on the edge of my bed and took his glasses off, rubbing his face.

As I sat in the chair looking at him, I saw him in an entirely different way. Amazing what the removal of one article of his appearance made. I’d never found him unattractive, but it wasn’t until then that I found him truly attractive.

Oliver was pursuing the same degrees as I was, both undergraduate and graduate. So, we knew that this friendship could span a while. It was one of the reasons I’d chosen him as my tutor. There was always going to be a math topic I was simply not going to understand.

Sighing, he leaned back on his hand and looked at me. We held each other’s gaze for a moment. I absently wondered if he could see me. He always wore glasses. I later learned that they were mostly readers. It’s why he always had them sliding down his nose - so he could actually see. But he constantly had his nose in a book, it was just easier to keep them on his face.

“Come here,” he said, not changing his position.

I did, my whole body aching in frustration. Frustration at math, but this seemed like a fine idea.

I wheeled my chair closer, and he pulled me from it, one hand on my hip and the other hooked at my knee, pulling me into his lap. I wasn’t fully seated there, my body off to the side so it was his hip pressed between my legs while his growing erection was against my thigh.

“Want to take a break?” he asked, his voice lowering. I shivered.

“Is this going to teach me math?” I asked, raising a brow. We both knew I was teasing, my hand running down the hard planes under his shirt. The shape of a body he kept well hidden behind somewhat baggy clothing.

“Maybe,” he said, his mouth covering mine in a searing hot kiss.

He wasn’t as big as Treven, but he was a whole lot better in bed. This was a man with a drive, the kind that was kept hidden and unassuming behind a mask you’d not look twice at. But I was never left disappointed. Never unsated as he fucked me into oblivion.

Then he’d hold me close through the rest of the night. If I couldn’t sleep, he’d recite math principles and theories. Oddly enough, that somehow helped. As if dreaming them, hearing them repeated by his voice in my subconscious, was enough to make something click.

I got marginally better at math over the years. When my math courses stopped, Oliver and I remained bed partners. Thursday nights always, and sometimes a random other thrown in. And Friday mornings he’d cook me breakfast in our little kitchenette before he left for class.

I won’t lie. I’d toyed with the idea of getting romantically involved with him. And although we had great chemistry and we clicked on so many other things, I think we both knew that it wasn’t going to be a long-term thing. We might stay together because it was easy and nice, and the sex was good. But in the long run, this wasn’t going to be a sweeping romance.

So, although we toed the line of getting ourselves in too deep, we stayed just outside it.

Now it was Friday. Oliver had just left me with a lingering kiss and a fat omelet. I was pretty sure he was coming back tonight, but he might not. With neither man did we ever truly ask for these bed dates. Monday nights were a no for Oliver, something he knew, and Treven just showed up.

Any other night Oliver came and went as he wished. Sometimes, I showed up at his room, especially if I’d had a rough day. And he’d take me in, please me until I couldn’t see straight, and then hold me against him while I fell asleep, all the while, quietly telling me about math.

We graduated in five days. Wednesday.

On the one hand, today was a career fair. It seemed like a likely enough place to go. You know, follow around the normal kids.

Most of the kids at LHU were normal humans. There was a shifter that was in his second to last year of grad studies. You can always tell a shifter. There was a cloud of surety hanging around them like it was a tangible thing. Even if they were meek, it was always dense. This one was no different.

There were two pixie underclassmen, too. You knew a pixie because of how shiny they were. As if they were made of little mirrors and the sun constantly reflected off them. They did well to hide it from the humans, but it wasn’t something you could hide from another nonhuman.

Then there was an imp and a grell. I was sure they were both students, but I had no idea what year or what they were studying. I didn’t really even know what they were. Since I’d been running from the Other world for as long as I could remember, I’d picked up things the best I could. I knew how to recognize an imp and a grell. But I had no idea what they really were.

The things I could recognize were almost always less dangerous than the ones I couldn’t. Elves were nearly impossible to spot. As were orcs and demons. I was getting better at noticing demons but only when they thought there was nothing supernatural around that they needed to remain fully cloaked from.

But I’d also learned that there were some demons that kept what they were hidden from others of their species. Like me, they were hunted. Deemed too dangerous to exist.

Also like me, they could remain cloaked in anonymity from everything. Human and nonhuman alike. So far, I hadn’t caught any wind that there were more of the non-human kind around. And I kept a close tab on my surroundings for fear of what was near me.

I’d been forced to take, desperate precautions that I wasn’t particularly proud of. But I was one person, running from the entire ruling entity of non-humans. With no one willing to protect me and teach me, and me too afraid to reveal what I was to anyone, this was the only choice I could think of to keep one step ahead.

Usually, events like the career fairs were held in a gymnasium. But my university was too high end for that. We had a series of conference rooms that had been reserved for this event, set up in something like a tour of campus. In each conference room were twenty or so vendors handing out their goodies to try and entice you to apply for a job you probably weren’t going to get.

I went, because I wasn’t sure what else to do. Where was I going to go? If nothing else, perhaps meandering around the career fair for a few hours would take my mind off the fact that I was having to leave my nest of comfort and relative safety in just a few short days.

The first building that I hit was closest to my dorm and housed most of the English Lit classes. These had been a fun set of courses that I’d enjoyed during my first year. I saw people I knew, and we exchanged how excited we were to finally end this journey.

Perhaps they were excited, but it felt forced from their end, too. Like we were supposed to be excited that our lives were about to drastically change, and we’d be forced to truly adult now.

If only that was my actual future, I’d be okay with it. Maybe I just needed to focus on finding a college town. Or dump myself in a big city. The problem with a big city and large populations was that with larger populations of humans came larger populations of supernaturals. A higher probability that someone might figure out what I am and turn me in.

I had no bigger fear. I would never return to a cage and their experiments. I’d rather die first.

But really, I’d rather live.

A college town meant that there was typically a larger population, but they were generally a human population. Organized education was a human thing. Supernaturals partook when they had the means and inclination, but generally, it was the density of humans that kept the non-humans well hidden. Allowed us to live while in plain sight.

The first three conference rooms on the tour showed me exactly nothing promising. Nothing that seemed at all like I could hide. I still had five days, no need to stress yet.

In the fourth conference room, located in the building that contained most of the administrative offices, I found occupations that were more in line with my degree path. I stopped and listened to a few company representatives talk up their brand and positions. Why we might want to work for them. I pocketed a few brochures and packets as I hung back to observe.

As I was cresting the loop to double back and check out the companies on the opposite wall, I paused at a woman who was asking a couple kids a series of questions. She had piles and piles of brochures and packs and booklets that she picked or moved past based on their answers. She handed them each their bag with a smile.

The two students were excited about what they might find, already peering in. I watched them go before turning back to the woman behind her ten-foot-long booth. She was watching me with bright eyes and a smile. For a moment, I swear I saw something in her eyes. Something that made my heart jump and stutter.

Was she human? Or was I already working myself up because of my predicament?

“Hi,” she said. “Would you care for a personalized packet of career possibilities and suggestions?”

Was there a way to ask her to make sure I was surrounded by normal people? Probably not. I nodded.

Her smile became warmer as she invited me closer. Her name tag said Veronica. I watched as she pulled out a canvas bag and set it on the chair next to her. “What’s your name, love?” she asked.

“Adeline,” I said. “Ady.”

“Hello, Ady. I’m Veri and I work for a lot of different agencies in their recruiting efforts. How this works is, I’ll ask you a series of questions and based on what you tell me, I’ll include some information you might be interested in. If, at any time, you think I might benefit with something you feel is an interest or a dislike, let me know. Okay?”

I nodded. What harm could this be?

“What’s your degree and when do you graduate?” she asked.

I shared about my doctorate and that I have exactly five days left. It was nice that she didn’t immediately get all enthusiastic like so many other people tended to. Oh, you’re graduating. How exciting. Have any big plans?

Yea, not getting killed for existing, thanks.

I imagined that would be an instant downer for a conversation.

“What do you hope to do with this degree?” she asked. “In an ideal world, where do you see yourself going with it?”

I glanced at the door as Oliver walked in. He only had morning classes on Fridays, so I wasn’t surprised to see him at the career fair. I turned back and sighed. “I don’t know. Teaching university level. Something in literature or writing.”

“Online, in person, or a combination?”

I shrugged. I supposed if I taught remotely, being noticed wouldn’t be such a problem. “I don’t know,” I said, laughing.

Veri paused as she looked at me, her head tilting sideways as she studied me further. Maybe she could tell how very lost I was.

She went through a dozen other questions that didn’t feel so overbearing. All the while, she started selecting brochures and packets to place in the canvas bag. Then she paused again to look at me. “Are you tied down, Ady? Would you be willing to relocate?”

I nodded. A hand on my hip made me turn my head. Oliver smiled and kissed my temple on the way by. I returned his smile before looking back at Veronica. “No, I’m not tied to anything or anyone. And yes, I’ll go anywhere if the opportunity is right.”

But she was watching Oliver thoughtfully. My words were contradictory to what she’d seen, most likely. I sighed and said, “Oli is a friend of mine. He’s been tutoring me in math since I almost flunked out six years ago. We’re not involved.”

Not in a way that would prevent me from going anywhere, at least.

Veronica’s eyes met mine again. And I swear, I must have been more nervous than I thought for I could have sworn they flashed again. Or… briefly changed? Something. Something happened with her eyes.

Finally, she nodded, her smile returning to her face. This time when she reached for a pamphlet, it wasn’t from the top of the table. I watched as she reached under it and pulled out a single trifold. Her hand hesitated for a heartbeat longer before placing it in my bag. Then she gathered the handles and reached over for me to take it.

“Good luck in your future, Ady. I am sure you’ll find something worthwhile and fulfilling.”

I nodded, smiling back at her. “Thank you. I hope so.”

I didn’t look in the bag as I made my way through the rest of the conference rooms. The longer I walked my way through campus and into the career fair rooms, the more I felt an overwhelming sense of doom settle over me. This wasn’t just me getting ready for a frightening future, something I was unsure of and unprepared for in a nervous, something new sort of way.

I was afraid for my life. Afraid that I wouldn’t find a place by the time I needed to be off campus in a week. Unlike most people here, I didn’t have a home to return to while I found my footing. I had to leap in and hope for the best.

Skipping dinner, I headed back to my room. I was relieved when I found both my roommates were out, so I didn’t have to interact with them. Instead, I headed straight to my room and fell onto my bed, dropping the many bags filled with information next to me.

After several minutes of looking at the ceiling, I pulled one of the bags to me and pulled the first packet out. It was a two-pocket folder filled with a whole lot of flyers and informationals and business cards.

Research opportunity. I suppose that might not be the worst of my options.

The next was a quad-fold. A legal-size brochure folded four ways. A laboratory looking for editors and content writers.

The third piece was an eight and a half by eleven, eighteen-page book that included maps of campuses and detailed lists of teaching opportunities. Two full pages listed their benefits in great detail.

That one I set aside for further investigation.

By the time I got to the canvas bag, I was pretty wiped out from looking at these. My mind hurt. This kind of stress was exhausting. I stopped reading them, not even opening them but based on the front pages of each Veri had put in my canvas bag, I had determined that she had a good handle on what she was doing. Almost all of them went into my pile for further investigation.

And that brought me to the last brochure. A simple tri-fold advertising something called The Harem Project.

Has your life been lacking in ways that you don’t fully understand? Maybe nothing ever truly made you feel whole. Like you belonged and were wanted.

I stilled, my heart stuttering as those words hit me in a way I hadn’t anticipated. A breath left me as the reality hit me deeply. With no home, no parents, no one who cared whether I lived or died… I understood that feeling in a way so many others have never even imagined.

Even here, where my friends did care if I didn’t show up, we all knew it was temporary. A temporary home. A family away from family. And when life pulls us apart, as it would in five days, the chances of us keeping in close contact would dwindle a little more as the days passed, until we were eventually fond memories of a distant past.

There weren’t any other words on the cover. Just a group of three gorgeous men and two beautiful women smiling up at me. I opened the pamphlet.

There were more pictures of groups of people. One was all women. One all men. A couple others in different combinations of genders.

A harem is more than a unit of people mingling under one roof. It’s deeper than family and broader than a couple. Sometimes, it takes not just one soul to complete your own, but several.

The Harem Project is a new age matchmaking service where we show you options of families that you are compatible with, down to your very breaths. What does that mean? It means that through a series of tests and conversations, questions and teasers, we take science and spirit to show you options on where you might find your happily ever after.

Because that’s what life is all about, isn’t it? Finding a happily ever after.

At The Harem Project, we can all but guarantee that you will find a family that is just right for you.

A family… just right for you.

The words repeated in my mind over and over again, until they were nothing but syllables losing all meaning.

Oliver came back that night and we shoved all the career fair madness to the floor while he drove me into a complete stupor. And as he held me, reciting some mathematical principle as I fell asleep, I vaguely wondered what it might be like to have a family of my own.

Not just any family. The family that was meant for me. That I was meant for.