Incubus (62 page)

of what she was looking at.

“Now you know why,” I answered, feeling sick. What I’d done to Parker—I hadn’t known what the

consequences would be. Yes, I wanted him to suffer for breaking Cassie’s heart. I never wanted him to

try to take his own life. By a lucky twist of fate, he’d survived the suicide attempt. But the incident

had left a stain, literally. I’d returned to my dream garden after planting the seed to find the rose

petals had darkened, red reaching farther toward the heart of each rose, a clear symbol of my

transgression. “You don’t want me for an enemy,” I said. “Trust me.”

Amber shrank back against the locker bay. “I told you,” she breathed. “I told you she was a

demon.”

An icy wash of fear poured down my back. I turned and saw Ally emerging from an empty locker

behind me.

Amber had set me up.

I spun on Amber, who was already regaining her composure. “I think,” she said, forcing her

shoulders back. “If you could hurt me in a dream, you would have done it already.”

I blanched. Amber was right—but not for the reasons she thought. I wouldn’t risk my own

humanity to punish some self-absorbed prom queen, no matter how satisfying it might feel at the time.

Amber, watching my face closely for any reaction, smiled as I confirmed her suspicion.

“That’s what I thought,” she said.

“Leave my friends out of this,” I warned.

“Well, that’s up to you, isn’t it?” She asked. “You want me to leave them alone, you know what

you have to do.”

Amber and Ally walked smugly out of the locker room, turning their backs on me confidently.

Unless I wanted to sacrifice my future I was no threat to them, and now they knew it.

I skipped lunch. I didn’t have it in me to share the dining hall with Amber.

Instead, I retreated back to the edge of the faculty parking lot, sitting under an aspen tree and

playing the scene from this morning over and over in my mind.

I was a wreck when Lucas found me. He’d smuggled a plate of food out of the dining hall for me,

but I wasn’t hungry. After I told him so, he nodded.

“I figured it was worth a shot,” he said, joining me at the base of the Aspen tree.

“What’s the word on Rick and the others?” We’d been waiting for an announcement from the

headmaster.

“This isn’t going to make you feel any better,” Lucas said.

“Why? What happened?”

“They’re claiming it was just a prank that got out of control.”

“What?! The held him down and shaved his head completely bald!”

“I know. But apparently Fiedler believes them. They got a three-day suspension.”

“That’s it?” I pulled back to read Lucas’s face, stunned. It was barely a slap on the wrist.

“That’s it.” He didn’t look any happier about it than I was. The bell rang, announcing the end of

lunch. We had five minutes to get to fifth period. Lucas stood, offering me his hand. I let him help me

stand, and dusted leaves and dirt off the back of my plaid skirt.

“Cassie. Now Royal,” I said. I looked at Lucas, my worry evident in my gaze.

Lucas pulled me close. “I’d like to see her try to mess with me.”

“I wouldn’t.”

“I don’t know. I think I’d look kind of badass with a shaved head.”

I smiled, but my heart wasn’t in it.

“Speak of the devil,” I heard Lucas mumble.

I looked up and saw Amber walking across the quad towards us. Behind her, Ally walked hand-in-

hand with Parker. I looked around, desperate to avoid her, but we were standing at the edge of campus

—there was nowhere to hide. Amber’s eyes caught on me.

An irrational swell of panic kicked up inside me - all I wanted was to disappear. And just like that,

my Lilitu instinct kicked in. Leathery wings—invisible to most mortal eyes—materialized around me,

cloaking me from view.

Lucas uttered a startled curse under his breath. “Braedyn? What are you doing?” he whispered.

But my eyes were locked on Amber. She froze, staring at me, stricken. Ally and Parker came to a

stop beside her, sharing a strange look. I saw Ally ask Amber something. Amber barely reacted.

“Amber can see me,” I hissed. “She’s a
spotter.
” My skin crawled. I felt naked, laid bare under her

gaze.

Lucas turned and saw Amber’s face. “Oh, man. You go. I’ll deal with Amber.”

I didn’t need to be told twice. I ran, feeling Amber’s eyes on me all the way into the South Hall.

The hall was empty; most kids were already in fifth period, waiting for the bell to start class.

I pulled the door closed behind me and slumped against the wall, uncloaking.

I’d thought the hall was empty, but I’d been wrong. Someone gave a strangled cry. I looked up.

Seth was there, staring at me, horrified.

“Seth.” I held out my hands, trying to soothe him with the gesture.

Seth jerked back. His eyes raked over my face, but whatever he saw there did nothing to calm him.

He turned away from me and ran down the hall. So much for keeping my secret. There was no going

back. Seth knew I was Lilitu.

Chapter 6

Seth was nowhere to be seen after school that day.

“I should have run after him, tried to do some damage control,” I said, full of self-recrimination.

Lucas, leaning against the hood of my car, shook his head. “Wouldn’t have made it any easier. He

just needs time.”

“How much time?” I worried aloud.

By the time the parking lot had emptied of everyone not staying for an afternoon practice of some

variety, I was pacing in front of my car.

“I don’t think he’s coming,” Lucas said. “We should get home.”

“He didn’t let me explain.” All I could see was that look of horror on his face, replaying itself in

my mind over and over. “He must think—” I covered my face with my hands. “I don’t know what he

must think.”

“Come on, Braedyn. He’s smart. He knows Gretchen’s a spotter.”

I looked up sharply. Lucas reached out a hand to me, his gaze steady.

“He’ll work it out,” Lucas murmured. “And when he does, he’ll realize you’re on our side.”

I took Lucas’s offered hand and let him draw me close. “Okay.” But that left another problem.

“Amber,” I whispered. “What do we tell the Guard?”

Lucas shook his head, miserable. Spotters were rare—and they were critical to the Guard’s

mission. You could always train more Guardsmen to fight, but being a spotter wasn’t something you

could learn. The Guard had lost Dina last year, the spotter for Marx’s unit. They’d come to help us

battle Ais and Dina had died—killed by Ais in the first moments of our fight. Since Dina’s death, no

new spotter had been found for Marx’s team, which left them dangerously exposed.

“I think for now,” Lucas said after a long moment. “We keep it to ourselves.”

It was what I wanted to hear him say, but I still felt a twinge of guilt. The Guard needed people

like Amber—regardless of what I thought of having her embraced by my friends and family.

Lucas stood and opened the driver’s side door for me. With a heavy heart, I drove us both home.

That night, after practice and dinner with the Guard, Dad and I returned home.

“Feel like watching some TV with your old man?” Dad asked.

“I think I’m going to turn in early tonight,” I said.

Dad’s eyebrows jumped a little in surprise. “You’re feeling okay?”

“Yeah. Just tired.” That was true, but it was only one part of the truth.

As I lay down in bed, I willed myself into a dream. I was aware of my head hitting the pillow, but

the sensation was far away; I was already standing in the odd rose garden that waited for me every

night.

I knelt and put my hand on the ground at my feet, sensing for the world beyond this tiny dream. I’d

learned that perceiving this place as real—a real garden, with clouds and dirt and roses—made it real

to my sleeping mind and trapped me here. But once I could sense the dream for what it was, I’d slip

out of my secluded bubble and into the larger dream space shared by all living things.

A pool of darkness opened at my feet, and the swirling stars of other sleepers’ dreams came into

view. I sat there for a long time, until I sensed the dream I was waiting for spring alight in the

darkness.

“Karayan,” I said, calling her dream out of the crowd. It rose up to the surface of my pool. I

reached down and touched it, willing myself inside.

Karayan turned as I entered her dream, her perfect mouth dropping open in silent surprise.

“I need to talk to you,” I said. Karayan’s dreamscape was dotted with bluebells, which stirred in a

sudden breeze; Karayan’s unease manifesting itself.

“How did you—” With visible effort, Karayan struggled to regain her composure. “It’s generally

considered rude to force your way into another Lilitu’s dream,” she said crisply.

“You do it all the time,” I retorted.

“That’s different,” Karayan said, waving this away. “I’m like your mentor.”

“My—” I stared at her, momentarily stunned into silence.

“Uh, yes?” Karayan’s eyes narrowed. “Or are you forgetting coming to me, asking for help with

your little extra-curricular revenge project?”

The irritated response died on my lips. Karayan was right; I’d gone to her for help to punish

Parker. Karayan was the one who’d showed me how to plant the seed in his sleeping mind—but only

because I asked her to.

“Fine,” I said, swallowing my pride. “Mentor me.” I willed two chairs into being and sat in one of

them. The leather felt soft under my fingers, warm and comforting. Karayan eyed the chairs with a

strange look in her face, but sat. She ran a hand over the surface of her chair, reluctantly appreciative.

“I need to know how someone becomes a spotter,” I said.

Karayan turned her beautiful eyes back to my face. “Why? Don’t tell me you want more of
them

out there?”

“No,” I said impatiently, “there’s a girl at school. She
saw
me.”

Karayan leaned back, considering this for a moment. “Amber,” she said at last. “Of course.”

“Why ‘of course’?”

“Because of Derek.”

“But they weren’t even dating when—” I faltered. “When he died.”

Karayan gave me a pitying look. “Braedyn. Do we need to talk about the birds and the bees again?”

I blushed hotly. “What does sex have to do with any of this?”

“Everything,” she said simply.

I waited, but when she didn’t offer anything further, I was forced to speak. “I don’t understand.”

Karayan tilted her head to study me with a condescending smile. “I know you don’t, sweetie.”

“Just tell me what you’re talking about,” I snapped.

Karayan’s smile widened, but she settled in her chair to explain. “When two people have sex, they

forge a bond whether they want to or not. It’s not just a physical act. It’s a union of spirit. And when

one of those spirits is damaged, sometimes the other is impacted as well.” Karayan’s eyes grew

thoughtful. “Spotters are usually deeply in love.”

“When you say Amber was impacted...” I prompted.

“Altered. Unblinded to the larger world, somehow. That change allowed her to see through a

Lilitu’s defenses after—” but here Karayan stopped.

“After you turned Derek into a Thrall,” I finished.

The bluebells on the hill around us shivered. I glanced at them, then back at Karayan, surprised.

She’d never indicated any remorse for attacking Derek. But that was definitely an emotional reaction.

Karayan stood abruptly. “You should go.”

“I have more questions,” I protested.

Karayan glared at me and I felt a strange pressure, like the larger dream world was trying to suck

me out of Karayan’s dream. My eyes snapped back to Karayan’s face.

“Stop,” I said.

The pressure ceased. Karayan staggered back almost as if buffeted by a gale-force wind. Her face

registered shock.

I was dimly aware of my alarm clock, blaring back in the real world. Time to wake up. I stood, and

Karayan took another step away from me, eyeing me like I was some kind of venomous snake.

“If you don’t want to talk in dreams, meet me in the Plaza today after school,” I said. “Four

o’clock.”

I opened my eyes. Sunlight crowded the edges of my drapes, eager to flood the room with dawn. I

felt a moment’s irrational resentment, then sighed. Ready or not, the day was beginning. Pushing back

the covers, I rose out of bed.