Incubus (72 page)

“Oh, God.” I backed into the wall, dizzy with panic.

Dad glanced at me. “Stay with him. I’ll get the others.” I nodded, and the next second Dad was

gone, pulling the door closed behind him.

Seth didn’t move from his spot in the foyer. He was shaking like a leaf, eyes wide and staring. “Do

you think—do you think the incubus went after her? Braedyn?” He looked suddenly younger than his

16 years. “She’s all the family I have in the world.”

I wanted to reach out to him, to offer him some comfort. But I couldn’t move. I know I should

have been thinking about Angela, but at that moment, all I could think about was what I would do if I

ever lost my Dad.

I went through the motions of seating Seth at our table, making tea, trying to make him comfortable.

But neither of us were really present. We were walking through separate worlds constructed by our

darkest fears, fears that overshadowed the tangible comforts of my home.

We sat at the table until steam stopped curling from the surface of the tea I’d poured. Dad had

returned with Hale a few moments after he’d left us standing in the foyer. Once they’d gotten all the

details they could from Seth, they’d left to organize the Guard to go out and find her.

Which left us here, waiting.

“She found something yesterday,” Seth said suddenly. “I don’t know what it was. She just said she

had to go check on something and she ran out of the house. I waited and waited for her, but she never

came home. I almost called you,” he gave me a faint smile. “I thought maybe she’d figured the whole

thing out.” His smile faded. “But when the police came tonight—” A ragged sob shook Seth.

“Seth,” I said, feeling helpless. “Don’t. We don’t know anything. Not yet.”

“Yes we do.” Seth looked up, his eyes wild. “We know my mom’s digging into something that the

Lilitu don’t want us to find.” Seth stood, too wired to sit still any longer. “We know there’s at least

one demon out there, maybe more. If they discovered what she’s doing—” Seth slumped against the

wall, doubling over in pain. “God—what if he’s got her? What if he’s hurting her?”

I stood, anxious to calm Seth down. “It’s no use making yourself crazy like this. We don’t know

anything yet.”

“What if she’s dying somewhere?” Seth pushed off of the wall, stumbling toward the foyer. “We

can’t just sit here,” he gasped. I grabbed Seth’s hand. He tried to pull away, panic driving him into a

frenzy. “Let go. Please, Braedyn, let me go!”

“
Calm down,
” I said. The chiming tones of
the call
seemed to set the air around us aglow. “
Calm

down, Seth.
”

It worked almost instantly. All resistance seeped out of Seth. He seemed to forget what he was

doing for a moment. Then he blinked and drew in a long, slow breath. “You’re right,” he said. “You’re

right.”

“I’ll be here. I’m not going to leave you alone.” I drew Seth into a hug, meaning to comfort him.

Seth’s arms tightened around my back, and he buried his face in my hair. I could feel his breath

against my neck. I pulled back quickly. Seth released me, but his eyes lingered on my face. The look

he gave me was almost guilty. Awareness hit me in the stomach. Cassie had seen more than I’d been

willing to acknowledge. Seth had feelings for me.

“Seth,” I started.

“I think I’ll put my tea in the microwave,” he interrupted. “Can I warm yours up, too?”

Seth wouldn’t meet my eyes. “Sure,” I said. Now was not the time to have this conversation. Seth

pulled our cups off the table and retreated into the kitchen. I folded my arms around myself, thinking

back over our time together. If I’d given him any reason to hope I might return his feelings, it was

unintentional.

I heard the door open in the foyer.

“Braedyn?” Dad called.

“In here,” I said.

Dad and Lucas entered. Lucas looked haggard. He must have just returned from the hunt for the

Thrall. He rubbed his hands together, blowing over them.

“Where’s Seth?” Dad asked.

We heard the microwave beep from the kitchen. A few seconds later, Seth returned with two

steaming mugs of tea. He saw Dad and set the cups down, eager for any news.

“Let’s get comfortable,” Dad said. “I’ll fill everyone in, but I think it’s going to be a long night.”

Dad led Seth into the living room. I picked my cup of tea up and handed it to Lucas. Our hands

brushed.

“Your fingers are like ice,” I murmured. He took the tea gratefully, wrapping his hands around it.

“You didn’t find her.” It wasn’t a question. I could see the truth in his face. In confirmation, he shook

his head no.

“Hale called off the hunt,” he said quietly.

I nodded. “Finding Angela is more important right now.”

We headed into the living room to wait with Dad and Seth. Dad filled us in. The Guard had set out

in teams to search for Seth’s mom anywhere it made sense for her to go. Once again, we were left

waiting.

“You’re going to stay with us until we find her,” Dad told Seth. I glanced at Dad, surprised. He

saw my look and inclined his head toward the guest room. “We’ve got space, and I’d rather have you

somewhere safe until we know more.”

“What if we can’t find her?” Seth asked.

“Now’s not the time for those kinds of questions,” Dad said, offering Seth a smile full of

confidence. “There are still plenty of explanations for her disappearance. With any luck, she’ll turn up

tomorrow before sunrise.”

But the sun came up, and Angela Linwood was still nowhere to be found. After a full night of

searching, Hale made the decision to call the Guard in. Half of the team were sent to bed to get what

sleep they could while the other half continued the search. They’d take six hour shifts until Angela

was found.

Dad left us to join the search a little after dawn.

Lucas and I stayed home from school with Seth that day. There was no way he’d be able to sit

through a whole day of classes while his mom was missing, and we didn’t want to abandon him. As

the sun climbed in the east, our thoughts turned to the possible reasons behind her disappearance.

“What do you think your mom discovered?” Lucas asked.

“It had to be something about the ritual,” Seth answered. “It’s the only thing she’s been able to

talk about for weeks.”

“Something about the vessel?” I asked.

“I don’t think so.” Seth’s expression turned thoughtful. “I think she would have said.”

“Do you know what she was looking at before she left?”

“I don’t know,” Seth said, miserable. “Some book. She had it at home. But I don’t know if she took

it with her when she left.” He looked up, stricken. “I didn’t think to check her office.”

“It wasn’t your responsibility,” Lucas said.

“I didn’t want to mess with her stuff,” Seth explained, as though we were judging him. “She hates

it when people mess with her stuff.” His voice wavered, and I was afraid he was on the verge of losing

it again. “But—if she doesn’t come back?”

I stood. The guys looked at me, startled by the sudden movement.

“I’m tired of waiting,” I said. It was true. The fear of the night had been tamped down by

exhaustion.

“What choice do we have?” Lucas asked.

“I’m going to find her myself,” I said.

“You can’t leave,” Seth grabbed my hand. Lucas saw the movement and raised an eyebrow, but

didn’t offer comment.

“Don’t worry,” I said, lowering myself to the rug. “I don’t have to go anywhere.”

If there was one thing exhaustion was good for, it was this. I slipped into the dream without any effort

at all. My rose garden was exactly as I’d left it, the wall as solid and impenetrable as ever.

I knelt on the ground and placed my hand into dirt that felt pleasantly warm against my skin.

This time I had to will a hole down deeper, through the fortress surrounding my mind, before I

could draw a pool of the infinite dream up into the dirt. Star-like dreams dusted across the inky

expanse. When I concentrated on them, they began to move.

“Angela Linwood,” I called. I’d found Lucas once when he’d been awake. His dream had flickered

dimly—his spirit had been more present in the physical world than the dream world—but I’d still

been able to find him. As long as we breathe, we are tied to the shared dream. And so when I

summoned Angela’s dream, I knew something was wrong.

Where her dream should have been, there was only a faint haze.

Confused, I closed my hand around it, willing myself into her mind.

Strong arms caught me from behind. I dropped the books I’d been carrying out of the college

library. They fell, falling open like great, multi-winged butterflies. I felt a pang of horror. Some of

these books had been printed before my grandparents had been born. But as I struggled to reach for

them I felt a ripping sensation at my throat. The next breath came, wet and heavy. And suddenly I was

stumbling to the ground. I stared at the dark red spots growing on the pages of my books. It took more

than a second to realize it was my blood. More spots had fallen on the creased skin of my hands, and

as I studied them I was surprised by how old they looked—

Old hands. Not my hands. Angela’s hands. I jerked back out of the haze, stumbling away from the

pool of stars at my feet. No.
No.
I wasn’t thinking clearly. I needed answers.

“Karayan,” I said, willing her to hear me. I sensed her attention turn toward me, then felt her

choose to ignore me. “Please.” I pulled slightly on the thread of her awareness. The resistance grew.

So I pulled harder.

Karayan appeared, gasping. She spun on me, eyes crackling with fury. “So that’s how it’s going to

be? You shove me out when you don’t like what I have to say, then yank me back when you need

something—no matter whether or not I
want
to come?”

“Karayan.” My voice was faint.

“No,” she said. “I’m not your little Barbie doll, Braedyn. And I don’t want to be involved. One of

the Three is coming back, hunting the incubus. You don’t want to be anywhere near this thing when it

happens, trust me.”

Shock still coursed through my body, but her words penetrated into my mind, shedding a ray of