I had exactly three hours and forty-two minutes of peace before Melissa made herself known. After finding out that my "dirty hands" had dared to touch her precious shoes, her sweeter than honey voice had gotten on my last nerve. I'm not sure if it was her lack of respect for my side of the room or the incessant underhanded comments about the angels less than her that pushed me past my last nerve. I could understand the demon remarks. Angels were raised to believe that demons lived off baser instincts and were the fallen children of the heavenly races. But to insult your own people because they didn't have as strong of power? That I wouldn't stand for.
"You can't be that important if they put you in a room with me."
Her eyes narrowed on me. "How would someone like you know anything about social standing?"
I shook my head and went over to my stereo. "Someone like me?"
"A mutt."
"I don't turn into a dog, so the insult falls a little flat, Tinkerbell. I have powers from both races while you…what do even do? Fart out sparkles?"
Her smile was anything but friendly. "Why don't I show you what true power is?"
The downside to concealing my powers was this crap. Everyone always assumed I couldn't do much more than mess with a person's mind. They used powerful people as weapons. I didn't choose either side. I was in a permanent state of limbo between two worlds, and I honestly didn't want to deal with the ensuing chaos of them trying to bribe me over to one side or the other.
I didn't care what her powers were, nor did I give her a chance to use them. With the stereo playing and her attention solely focused on me, it was like stealing candy from a baby. The beauty of my succubus blood was that I could imprint on a person's mind and visit their dreams. It came with several risks any time we danced to music. The weaker the mind, the more detrimental the outcome. Dancing was like a spell meant to draw in our victims. Our bodies were the pendulum, hypnotizing them and drawing them closer. It could cause obsessions so extreme the person would stop eating and taking care of themselves just for that one chance to see us again. We became the only thought in their mind.
Melissa drew closer to me until she was within arm's reach. Her ugly expression was replaced with one of awe and simplicity. Her hand reached out to touch my arm.
"There, there. You look so tired." I cooed.
She nodded her head. "Will you hold me? I want to fall asleep with you on my chest."
I had to hold back my laugh. There was no way she was this weak-minded. She must have left herself completely unguarded in the room. The song stopped and so did my hold over her. Her angel blood would protect her from being completely under my control, but it was funny to see her realization setting in.
Her eyes grew wide in horror and she tripped over her feet trying to get back away from me. Melissa landed in a heap on the ground and screamed.
"Stay away from me, you freak!"
She scurried up to her feet and ran out of the room without bothering to shut the door behind her.
"I've been called worse," I said to myself.
At least it was quiet for the moment. Andul or the guard were likely to be by soon, so I left the door alone and went to lounge on the bed with a magazine. I would have preferred a book, but at least Melissa's girly magazine was something to occupy myself with. It didn't keep my attention for long. The walls were a light beige with a white ceiling that popped. We didn't have carpets in case of spills. Even though someone could probably magic them away, they kept wood floors in all the rooms.
Something brushed past me and my music suddenly stopped. I dropped the magazine on to my stomach to find Andul watching me with cold indifference.
"You've chased off your roommate the first night. Good job."
"Did I really?" I feigned surprise.
He was unamused. "You know perfectly well that you did."
"Good riddance. She was an absolute bore." I lifted the magazine back up, paying no mind to the pictures or articles as I waited for him to move past.
Since he was to my right and I was unlikely to look at him, he moved into my line of sight above the magazine. His mouth opened to speak and I used my power to turn the stereo back on. I thought I heard a growl as he moved past to shut it off again. Andul probably thought he hit the button wrong, so I was very careful to keep my humor hidden.
"You are not allowed to use your powers against anyone."
I set the magazine on the bed and went over to the closet next to him.
"All I did was play some music and dance along. Next thing I knew there she was wanting to take me to bed."
I could practically hear his teeth grinding. Barely any of my clothes were with me, leaving my closet bare and pathetic looking. Andul moved behind me and made his way to the door. This time when I turned on the music, I blasted it.
Instead of going for the stereo, he grabbed me. I moved my body a bit to the music with a smirk.
"If this was what you wanted, all you had to do was ask." I moved closer still swaying with the music.
My unexpected move made the tiniest blush appear on his cheeks.
"Do you ever think about anyone else?" He demanded.
I lifted a finger and tapped his nose. "Not since you assholes got rid of my parents."
He let me go with a slight shove. I'd been holding a shirt when he grabbed me and dropped it. I purposely bent over to give him a view of my backside as I picked it up. He was so close that I bumped into him.
"Jesus!"
A small laugh escaped at his version of swearing. How adorable!
He growled from several feet away, "I am trying to introduce you to your new roommate. Can you be serious for five minutes?"