Chapter 75: Chapter 75: The Firstborn

“HELLO, BROTHER,” the voice said, rich with dark amusement. “I see you’ve been busy breaking your vows again. How wonderfully… predictable.”

The doorway filled with a figure that made Mailah’s breath catch for entirely different reasons than fear.

He’s obviously one of the Ashford brothers.

He stepped into the candlelit den like a fallen angel claiming dominion over hell itself.

The question was—of the two brothers she had yet to meet, which one stood before them now?

Was it Ravenson? Or Lucson?

The answer came in the form of a smile that was both devastatingly beautiful and utterly predatory.

This wasn’t the raw, dangerous energy she’d sensed from Carson, nor the controlled power she’d glimpsed in Mason.

This was something far more insidious—a magnetism that pulled at her very soul without her conscious permission.

“Lucson,” Grayson said, and the name fell from his lips like a curse.

Mailah found herself staring despite every instinct screaming at her to look away.

Lucson Ashford was perhaps the most beautiful man she had ever seen—not in the classical way that Grayson was handsome, but with an otherworldly perfection that seemed designed to make mortals forget themselves entirely.

His dark hair caught the candlelight like spun shadow, and his light gray eyes held depths that promised secrets worth dying for.

When he smiled, it was with the confidence of someone who had never been denied anything he truly wanted.

The memory of Grayson’s description crashed back into her consciousness like a bucket of ice water: Lucson feeds on influence and admiration. Politicians, celebrities, cult leaders—anyone who commands devotion or worship. He’s probably the most dangerous of all of us because his victims never realize they’re being consumed. They’re too busy feeling grateful for his attention.

Mailah jerked her gaze away from Lucson so abruptly that she nearly gave herself whiplash, fixing her eyes firmly on Grayson’s face instead.

But even without looking directly at him, she could feel Lucson’s presence like a warm hand against her skin, coaxing her to turn back, to bask in his attention.

The tension in the room ratcheted up several degrees as the two brothers faced each other.

This wasn’t like the complicated but ultimately familiar dynamic she’d witnessed between Grayson and Mason, or even between Grayson and Carson in his memories.

This was something far more volatile—a hostility so sharp it made the air itself feel dangerous.

“You have no business being here,” Grayson said, his voice carrying an edge that could cut glass.

He moved protectively between Lucson and the chaise where Mailah was.

But Lucson’s smile only widened. “Oh, but I do, little brother. You’ve finally fed again—truly fed, not those pitiful scraps you’ve been surviving on for centuries. The implications of that are… significant.”

Kieran shifted restlessly, his golden eyes darting between the two brothers like he was watching a particularly dangerous tennis match.

His usual casual demeanor had evaporated entirely, replaced by the kind of alert tension that spoke of someone prepared for violence.

“Congratulations, by the way,” Lucson continued, his cultured voice carrying notes of amusement that made Mailah’s skin crawl. “I was beginning to think you’d actually follow through on your threat to let yourself dissolve rather than embrace what you are. How wonderfully… predictable that a woman would be your downfall.”

His eyes found Mailah despite Grayson’s attempt to shield her, and she felt that magnetic pull again—stronger this time, more insistent.

It took every ounce of willpower she possessed to keep her gaze fixed on a point just past his left shoulder.

“She’s quite lovely, isn’t she?” Lucson mused, circling them with the fluid grace of a predator sizing up its prey. “I can see why you broke your vows for her. The question is—does she understand what she’s unleashed?”

“Get out,” Grayson snarled, supernatural energy rolling off him in waves that made the candles flicker wildly. “Now.”

But Lucson seemed utterly unperturbed by the display of power. If anything, he appeared to be enjoying himself immensely, as though Grayson’s anger was exactly the reaction he’d been hoping for.

“Such hostility,” he said, clicking his tongue in mock disappointment. “And here I thought you’d be grateful for the warning I’ve come to deliver.”

“What warning?” Kieran asked, though his tone suggested he wasn’t sure he wanted to know the answer.

Lucson’s attention shifted to the other incubus, and Mailah felt a moment of relief as that overwhelming magnetism was directed elsewhere.

“Surely you’ve explained to our dear Grayson what happens now that he’s tasted full feeding again? The… complications that arise when one of us breaks centuries of abstinence?”

The temperature in the room seemed to drop several degrees, though the candles continued to burn steadily.

Grayson went very still, the kind of stillness that spoke of a predator preparing to strike.

“What are you talking about?” Mailah asked, her voice barely above a whisper. She’d found the strength to sit up fully on the chaise, though her body still trembled with exhaustion from the feeding.

Lucson’s smile turned genuinely delighted, as though she’d asked exactly the question he’d been hoping for. “Oh, she doesn’t know. How precious. Grayson, you really should have prepared her better.”

“Lucson,” Grayson’s voice carried a warning that would have made lesser demons flee in terror.

But his brother was far from intimidated. “You see, my dear,” Lucson said, addressing Mailah directly despite Grayson’s increasingly dangerous posture, “when one of our kind abstains from feeding for extended periods—centuries, in Grayson’s case—and then suddenly indulges in a full feeding, it creates… awakening.”

He paused, savoring the moment like a fine wine. “The demon nature that he’s been suppressing for so long doesn’t simply go back to sleep after being fully nourished. Think of it as opening floodgates—once his true nature has tasted what it’s been denied, it will demand more. Constantly.”

Mailah felt the blood drain from her face as the implications hit her. “You mean—”

“I mean,” Lucson interrupted smoothly, “that your little feeding session tonight has essentially pulled our dear Grayson back into the world he’s been trying so desperately to escape. The careful human facade, the controlled restraint, the ability to live peacefully among mortals—all of that becomes exponentially harder to maintain now that his incubus nature has been fully awakened.”

The silence that followed was deafening. Even the candles seemed to burn more quietly, as though the very air had grown thick with dread.

“The hunger will be constant now,” Lucson continued conversationally, as though he were discussing the weather rather than delivering news that could change everything.

“He’ll need to feed regularly—not the pitiful scraps he’s survived on, but true nourishment. His supernatural abilities will be stronger, more demanding. His human emotions will war with demonic instincts in ways that could drive him mad if he’s not careful.”

Grayson’s hands clenched into fists at his sides. But when he spoke, his voice was steady, controlled. “It doesn’t have to be that way.”

“Days, perhaps weeks if you’re particularly strong-willed,” Lucson said with mock sympathy. “But the longer you try to fight it, the more dangerous you become—to yourself and everyone around you.”

His eyes glittered with malicious amusement. “Of course, you could always embrace what you are instead of pretending to be something you’re not.”

“I’ve been living among humans for centuries,” Grayson said firmly, his eyes never wavering from his brother’s face. “I know who I am—both demon and the man I’ve chosen to become. My incubus nature being awakened doesn’t mean I have to lose my humanity. I’ve learned to control both sides of myself.”

Lucson’s eyebrows rose in genuine surprise, though his smile remained predatory. “How optimistically naive of you, little brother. You think a few centuries of playing human has prepared you for what’s coming?”

“I think,” Grayson replied with quiet conviction, “that I’m not the same demon who was first exiled to Earth. I’ve grown, I’ve learned, and I’ve chosen my path. The awakening changes the intensity, not the choice.”

Lucson studied him for a long moment, his light gray eyes searching Grayson’s face as though looking for cracks in his resolve.

Finally, he shrugged with elegant dismissal.

“If that’s what you believe,” he said, though his tone suggested he found the notion amusing rather than convincing.

That last statement hung in the air like a sword suspended over their heads.

Mailah found herself reaching instinctively for Grayson, her fingers closing around his wrist as though physical contact could anchor them both against the storm that was coming.

The touch seemed to ground him, some of the wild energy around him settling into a more controlled burn. But his eyes never left his brother’s face, and the tension between them was so sharp it was almost physical.

“Why are you really here?” he asked, his voice tight with suspicion. “What’s your angle, Lucson?”

The eldest Ashford brother’s smile turned enigmatic. “Perhaps I’m simply feeling brotherly concern for Grayson’s… experiment in maintaining his humanity while fully awakened. After all, it would be such a shame if his noble intentions led to his destruction.”

“Bullshit,” Grayson said flatly. “You’ve never done anything without an ulterior motive. What do you want?”

Lucson’s expression didn’t change, but something flickered in his eyes—something that might have been genuine emotion beneath all that calculated charm.

“What I want, little brother, is to watch what happens when your pretty ideals meet harsh reality. Because whether you believe it or not, you’re about to discover just how difficult it is to remain human when your demon nature is fully awake and demanding its due.”

He turned toward the door, then paused, glancing back over his shoulder. “Oh, and Grayson? When your noble experiment inevitably fails, remember that I offered you a different path.”

“It won’t fail,” Grayson said quietly, but with absolute certainty.

Lucson’s laugh was like silk wrapped around a blade. “We shall see.”

But instead of leaving, he stopped in the doorway, his head tilted as though listening to something only he could hear.

When he turned back to them, his expression had shifted into something far more serious—and infinitely more dangerous.

“Actually,” he said, his voice dropping to barely above a whisper, “your test may begin sooner than expected.”

The sound that reached their ears then made Mailah’s blood turn to ice—not from outside, but from Grayson himself.

A low, barely audible growl that seemed to come from deep within his chest, carrying an otherworldly resonance that spoke of awakening power.

Grayson’s eyes widened in surprise as he pressed a hand to his chest, clearly not having realized he was making the sound.

“Interesting,” Lucson murmured, his golden eyes gleaming with dark satisfaction. “It appears your incubus nature is more eager to make its presence known than you anticipated.”

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