Incubus (42 page)

night. My mind felt fractured. Yes, my hands gripped the wheel, some small part of me navigating the

streets in a haze—but my thoughts were miles away at the mission. I relived each moment of the

ritual, wincing as the knife sliced through my palm in memory. I gripped the wheel tighter and my

hand throbbed in protest. The pain goaded me on, a sharp reminder of our terrible mistake. But what

we’d done, we could undo. I had to believe that.

I turned onto my street. My body strained against the seatbelt, compressing the air out of my

lungs. I hit the brakes, suddenly aware of how fast I was driving. The Firebird lurched as the wheels

locked up, tires squealing against the road. I slid for a few feet, but my speed was back under control.

My heart thudded in my ears, louder than the sound of the Firebird’s engine as I tapped the gas.

Moments later, I turned up the driveway in front of my house and killed the engine, leaving the keys

in the ignition. I opened my car door and caught a whiff of burnt rubber, but paid it no mind. I charged

up the path to our front door, reaching for the doorknob. Unlocked, it turned under my hand. I shoved

the door open and burst inside, expecting to find Dad, Hale, and Thane still arguing at the kitchen

table.

Instead, I found Seth and Lucas sitting in silence. Seth hunched over a steaming mug of herbal tea

as Lucas glared at him. The spicy aroma filled the foyer. He looked beaten down, defeated. They must

have told him what we’d done by performing the ritual. Lucas turned as I entered. The look he gave

me was so impersonal it stopped my breath for a moment.

Seth looked up half a heartbeat later. His face lit up and he stood. “Braedyn!” And then the

memory of our day crashed in on him and his face twisted in misery. “Oh, God. I’m so sorry. I can’t

believe we—”

I strode into the dining room. There wasn’t any time to waste. “Seth, don’t. It’s not too late. We

can still stop it.” Seth gave me an incredulous look. Lucas turned his back on me, pulling a cell phone

out of his pocket.

Seth glanced at Lucas, startled. “Lucas? Did you hear what she—”

“They’re out looking for her.” Lucas cut him off shortly. “I’m just going to tell them where she

is.”

“Who—who’s looking for me?” I asked. The memory of Thane’s rage was still fresh in my mind.

Could he have set the entire Guard after me?

Instead of dialing, Lucas glared at me. “Don’t worry. Even after everything you’ve done, Hale

wouldn’t let Thane spill your secret. Congratulations. Some people still have faith in you.”

“Fine.” I turned away from him, unable to meet the anger in his gaze. “Call them. They’re going to

want to hear this anyway.”

“What’s going on?” Seth asked, walking over to me.

“It’s not over,” I gushed to Seth. “We can still stop the ritual.”

Lucas hesitated, phone in his hand, listening.

“Come on.” I pulled Seth toward the door. “I’ll explain at the Guard’s house. We’re going to need

all the Guardsman we can get to help us.”

“You need the Guard?” Seth glanced at Lucas, stricken.

“What?” I asked, sensing their sudden tension.

“Max spotted the guy in that sketch down in Old Town about an hour ago,” Lucas said. “Everyone

not looking for you is out looking for
him.
”

“But—” I felt the panic pressing up through the base of my skull. There was time before the moon

rose, but not a
lot
of time. “We’ve got to get to the mission.”

Seth stepped back, pulling away from me. “You want
me
to go back there?”

“We don’t have much time,” I said.

“But the seal is open.”

“No, it’s not,” I snapped. “You said it yourself, the ritual isn’t complete until moonrise. There’s

still time to stop it.
But we have to go now!
”

“I—” Seth eyed me, looking small and terrified and fragile. “I can’t.”

“We have to,” I said, staring at him with disbelief. “Seth, this is our fault. We’ve got the chance to

make this right. We have to take it.”

“I’m not like you,” Seth whispered. Shame burned in his cheeks. “I’m not a fighter.”

“Seth,” I pleaded with him.

“I’ll go,” Lucas said. I turned to look at him, but he was bending to pick up the jacket he’d tossed

over the back of one of the kitchen chairs.

“Thank you,” I said.

Lucas ignored me. “Call Hale,” Lucas said to Seth. “Get him to pull the rest of the Guard back.

Tell them to meet us at the mission.” Seth nodded. Lucas glanced at me, shrugging into his jacket.

“Let’s go.”

I ached to reach for him, but held myself in check. “Right. My car’s right out—” Lucas brushed

past me wordlessly. I fell silent, stung.

“What’s that all about?” Seth murmured quietly into my ear, watching as Lucas paused in the

foyer to zip up his jacket.

“He knows what I did,” I said simply.

Seth bit his lip, awareness entering his eyes. “Oh.”

“You coming?” Lucas stood in the foyer, one hand on the doorknob. I turned to join him, but he

didn’t wait for me. He opened the door.

Cassie stood on the doorstep, her eyes puffy and red-rimmed. “Where’s Braedyn?”

Lucas glanced at me, zero curiosity in his gaze. “Make it fast,” he said. He walked past Cassie. She

spotted me and entered, fists balled at her sides.

“You know, after I saw you and Mr. Hart together,” Cassie stopped, her voice shaking with rage.

She took a deep breath. “I didn’t think I wanted to see you ever again. But now—”

“It’s not what you think,” I whispered.

“Don’t.” Cassie’s eyes were bright with fresh tears. “Don’t lie to me, Braedyn.”

“I know what it looked like,” I said, raising a hand, trying to appease her.

Cassie snapped. “The door was
locked,
” she screamed. “You were on top of him! When you
knew

that I—” She turned away from me, scrubbing the back of her hand against her eyes furiously.

I could feel Seth’s eyes latched onto me, burning with curiosity. My cheeks grew hot. “I know,” I

said.

“You’re supposed to be my best friend,” she whispered.

My heart wrenched, but at that moment I heard my car engine roar to life outside. “I’m so sorry—

but I can’t do this right now.”

“No, of course not. Why would you make time for a conversation that could save our friendship?”

“Cassie—”

“Don’t bother,” she said, turning away. I grabbed her arm—I couldn’t let her walk out like this.

But before I could say anything, she spun on me, pure venom in her eyes. “You’re a hypocrite,

Braedyn Murphy,” she growled. “You give me all this grief about Mr. Hart, when
nothing ever

happened
between us. Then you turn around and—” Cassie brought her hands up to her face again, as

if she could scrub the memory out of her head. “You could have any guy you want. Why him?”

Lucas honked the horn outside. I glanced out the door, torn.

“Just tell me
why,
” Cassie said. “It’s the very least you can do.”

“I’ll tell you everything,” I said. “When I get back.”

Cassie shook her head, too overwhelmed to speak. I glanced at Seth, pleading silently for help.

“I can handle this,” he said. “I’ll stay with her.” I nodded, grateful. Seth caught my hand before I

could leave. I saw the fear in his eyes. “Take care of yourself,” he whispered.

I gave him a faint smile, but I’m pretty sure it didn’t reach my eyes.

A gloomy carpet of desert stretched out before us as we sped down the highway away from town. The

night was quiet, eager. Waiting for the moon and its illumination to bring life to the darkness.

Lucas drove in silence, hands gripping the wheel tightly. The soft glow from my dashboard lit his

features, reflecting pinpoints of light in his deep hazel eyes. I couldn’t tear my gaze away from him.

The seconds ticked past, and the silence between us grew so thick it threatened to suffocate me. I had

to speak.

“I’m glad you’re here, Lucas.”

“You shouldn’t take it personally,” Lucas said. “This is my responsibility as a Guardsman.”

It felt like he’d slapped me. I stared ahead, my stomach in knots.

“You should call Murphy,” Lucas said after a moment. His jaw twitched, a sign I knew all too

well. He was holding himself in check, clamping down on his emotions. My eyesight blurred, but I

fished my phone out of my pocket. The ringer was off. As I glanced at it, I saw I had five missed calls

from Dad. I hit redial, turning to stare out the window.

Dad picked up on the second ring. “Braedyn?! Where are you?!”

“Hale hasn’t called you yet?” I asked, surprised.

“Hale?” Dad sounded mystified. “What’s going on?”

“The ritual. It’s not complete until the moon rises. We still have time to stop it,” I said.

“Stop it how? What are you planning?” Dad asked.

“I—I just assumed we could—” I lowered my voice, suddenly embarrassed. “Move the vessel or

something.”

“You’re dealing with ancient Lilitu ritual magic,” Dad said. “I don’t think it’s going to be that

simple. Hold on. Let me see if I can get Ian on the line.”

I stole a glance at Lucas out of the corner of my eye. He had his eyes fixed on the road. You’d

think he was driving alone. I turned away from him again. It hurt too much to be ignored by him.

Dad returned a moment later. “Ian, are you there?”

I heard the older man’s voice. “Yes. Braedyn? Your father tells me you believe it might not be too

late to stop this ritual.”

“We think it’s not complete until moonrise,” I said.

“Interesting. Can you walk me through the ritual? Tell me everything that you did,” Ian said.

“I—” I swallowed, glancing at Lucas. “Right.” As we sped toward the mission, I described every

step of the ritual to Ian. Lucas listened. His expression darkened with each passing moment, and his

knuckles grew whiter against the steering wheel. The only detail I changed was the bit about the Lilitu

blood. I told Ian we’d gotten a vial somewhere, but Lucas glanced at my bandaged hand. I described

what had happened when the dawn sun had hit the floor of the mission. Lucas glanced at my face then,

with a look of startled horror.

Ian was silent for a long moment. “Salt,” he said at last. “That was a clever move. Clever and

dangerous.”

“What—?” I started to ask. Ian cut me off.

“The salt, contained within the vessel, should focus the power of the ritual. It also serves as a

protection against supernatural interference.”

“What—what kind of supernatural interference?”

“Angelic,” Ian said simply.

“Sansenoy,” I breathed. I suddenly remembered Karayan’s warning that one of the Three was

hunting for the incubus. I conjured the image of the angel in my mind. He’d appeared—both times I’d

seen him in the flesh—as an old man with a scraggly beard and eyes more ancient and mysterious than

the ocean.

“Perhaps,” Ian said. I heard the curiosity behind his words.

“Salt?” Dad prompted. “Are you suggesting there might be a way to break the ritual with the salt?”

“Yes,” Ian said, coming back to the point. “As I’d started to explain, the salt makes the ritual both

more powerful, and more vulnerable. You see, as long as the vessel remains undisturbed, the salt will

increase the power of the ritual such that—as you saw with the dawn light—the transformative aspects

of the ritual should happen almost instantaneously.”

“Meaning?” Dad asked. I could sense that he was trying to hurry Ian along without losing his

patience.

“Meaning,” Ian said. “If the moonlight falls on the seal, the seal should open immediately.

Typically in a ritual of this sort, the transformative aspects of the ritual happen more gradually. So for

instance, the symbols you painted on the seal would have taken most of the day to sink into the stone.”

“How can she stop the ritual?” Dad snapped.

“Take advantage of the incubus’s arrogance,” Ian replied, unperturbed. “Simply take up the vessel

and scatter the salt over the surface of the seal. That should prevent the door from opening.”

“All right,” I said. “We should be there in about five minutes.”

“
What?!
” Dad’s voice shot up several octaves. “You’ve left town?”

“Hale and the rest of the Guardsmen should be on their way,” I explained. “Seth called them after