Incubus (94 page)

wrapped tightly around her knees. Lucas turned back to me.

“They need you more than they need me,” he said.

“What does that—?”

Lucas caught my face in his hands and kissed me. This was nothing like our last real kiss, the night

Gretchen had found us together, the night she had outted me as Lilitu to the unsuspecting Lucas. That

kiss had been passionate, tender, full of hope.

This kiss—Lucas gave his whole self to it, like he didn’t expect to see another sunrise. He crushed

me to him with a growing urgency. The passion of this kiss smoldered, burned through my resistance

—almost brutal in its intensity. Everything we’d fought to contain and control, everything we’d

struggled to suppress, flooded free in an instant. My body responded, starved for his touch—

And equally starved for the life energy he was offering.

I felt the draw of power as the Lilitu storm rose within me. My arms fastened around Lucas’s neck.

He gripped me harder, and I heard a soft moan escape him. It was everything I wanted.

I shoved Lucas back,
hard.
He sprawled onto the floor, gasping. I pushed myself away from him,

stronger, but not whole. Not by a long shot.

Lucas gave me a searching look.

“Not like this,” I said, shaking. I felt sickened by the thought of what I could do to Lucas. It’d be

so easy to draw out his energy, drain him of vitality. I forced myself to look away from him, fighting

the wild desire to pull him closer again.

“Fascinating.” The Lilitu’s voice sounded behind me, full of amused curiosity. “I see you did not

exaggerate.”

I turned. Illydia and Seth were watching us, smiling with the same arc to their lips. The family

resemblance was striking. Seth might have been taller, but their facial structure, their dark eyes, their

skin tone—they could have been twins.

“She’ll come around,” Seth said.

The Lilitu shrugged, uninterested. She turned from me and walked toward the stranger. He

slumped on the ground, still kneeling, his breath coming in short, ragged pants. She crouched before

him, tilting her head to peer directly into his face.

“Senoy?” she asked.

The stranger’s eyes flicked up to her face, full of pain and failure. I sucked in a sharp breath. It

couldn’t be.

“I thought I recognized that pugilistic arrogance.” Illydia gave a delighted laugh. “Well done,

Sethayl.” She turned to Seth and her smile sharpened, a hungry glee sparkling in her eyes.

“Two down, one to go,” Seth said, inclining his head in acknowledgement of her praise.

“No,” I whispered. A vise seemed to grow in my chest, gripping my heart tighter and tighter until

it felt like I would die. This was all wrong. Karayan had warned me. She’d told me one of the Three

was coming, but it should have been Sansenoy. Sansenoy, whom I recognized. Sansenoy, who knew

me as an ally. Not this stranger.

Illydia stood, turning her back on the dying angel, dismissing him completely from her thoughts.

Senoy looked up, meeting my stare levelly. The skin of his face was slick with sweat, and his lips

had grown pale, but his eyes were as determined as ever. He gave me a look full of meaning and then

—very deliberately—flicked his gaze back toward Seth and Illydia.

Illydia was between us and the mission’s secret door. Which left one possible escape route for my

friends.

I turned to Lucas. “You’ll have to get the crossbeam off the front doors. It’s the only way you and

Cassie will be able to escape.” Lucas’s eyes tightened, but before he could argue, I reached down and

caught his hand in mine. “Help Cassie, please. I can handle this.”

Lucas met my eyes. After a long moment, he nodded.

Haltingly, I stood. My leg held. Whatever energy I’d pulled from Lucas had worked on the wound,

accelerating the healing process from inside. There was still pain, the wound was not gone, but I could

put weight on the leg without swooning. Progress.

Without looking back, I walked toward Seth and his sister. Seth’s eyebrows hiked up with faint

interest. Illydia turned, eyeing me critically.

“Any time you want to reconsider my advances...” Seth let his eyes travel over my body. I felt

suddenly exposed. I stopped moving, rooted to the floor. His eyes returned to my face. “We could do

everything you’ve been missing from your
relationship,
” and here he raised his fingers, quirking them

in air-quotes with a sardonic smile before continuing, “with Lucas. Believe it or not, I really am fond

of you.”

I felt a blush spreading across my cheeks, but I was conscious of Lucas and Cassie behind me,

trying to escape. The one thing I could give them now was time. I glared at Seth. “It was all an act.”

“I know,” Seth sighed wistfully. “Too bad they don’t give Oscars for passing as human. Although,

I did get the vessel, so in the greater scheme of things, I still win.”

“So, that’s why you wormed your way into the Guard?”

“Uh, yeah.” Seth gave me a pointed look. “You thought I was hanging around for the food?”

“Then... the Thrall? Getting Angela Linwood killed? That was you, too?”

“Dig a little deeper, Braedyn.” Seth crossed his arms, smirking. “I’ve been playing this game on

multiple fronts. The Thrall, Linwood, those were the obvious moves.”

My mind churned sluggishly. “Mr. Hart?”

Seth inclined his head with a slight smile. “You suspected him early on. I just gave you a little

shove here and there. The key was keeping you out of his dream. Admit it, once you tried to get into

his dream you freaked out a little bit, didn’t you?”

“You shielded his mind?” I didn’t have to feign my curiosity.

“Useful trick, that,” Seth said. “I also shielded Amber’s mind, but you never went after her, not

even after all those threats about what you
could
do to her.”

“Amber?” Something shifted in my mind. I cast my thoughts back, suddenly numb. “What does

she have to do with—?”

“Oh, come on,” Seth chuckled. “You didn’t really think she was
that
evil did you? I mean, the

girl’s got her moments, sure. But trying to get Lucas killed? I thought I might be tipping my hand

there, but you bought it.” He shook his head.

My palm throbbed in protest and I glanced down, unaware until that moment that I’d balled my

hands into fists. I raised my eyes back to Seth, seething with white-hot rage.

“You’re angry with me.” Seth gave me a look of pity. “It’s a bit misdirected, though. You really

only have yourself to blame.”

“How do you figure?” I managed, my voice thick with outrage.

“Well, manipulation is one of my strong suits, but you did make it easy for me.” Seth spread his

hands wide. “The key is to identify what it is someone finds desirable. You,” he pointed his finger at

me with a knowing smile. “You like the wounded boys.” He glanced pointedly at Lucas for emphasis.

“So I faked up a sad history, topped it off with the
tragic
death of a fake mom, and
voila.
Putty in my

hands.”

I shook my head as a thousand new questions flooded my thoughts. Before I could put one of them

into words, Seth said something that stopped me cold.

“Royal—now he was a bit more fun.” Seth rubbed his hands together with pride. “Royal likes his

boys witty.” I stared at Seth, horrified, but he went on. “Convincing him to hold his tongue? Not as

easy as you’d think. He was so eager to tell his besties all about our magical tryst.”

“Royal is your friend,” I said, reeling.

“No,” Seth said, as though explaining something to a child. “Royal is human. That makes him my

enemy.”

“But he’s not,” I protested. “He’s not in the Guard, he’s no threat to you. Why? Why hurt him?”

Seth sighed. “It was supposed to keep you occupied until moonrise. I’ll admit, it was a desperate

move.” He shrugged. “But I hadn’t counted on you figuring out the ritual would open the seal—or that

it could be stopped. Too smart for your own good, by the way.” Seth wagged his finger at me in mock

admonishment. “Once you knew the truth, I needed to give you something else to think about. Though,

I have to say I’m surprised. I thought you’d try a teensy bit harder to find him.” Seth gave me a sour

smile. “Guess I overestimated how much he means to you.”

I hurled myself at Seth.

He moved with stunning speed, dodging my attack and clubbing his forearm down against my leg.

Pain exploded across my thigh. I staggered to the floor, unable to draw breath for a moment. Across

the sanctuary, I saw Lucas and Cassie struggling with the beam laid across the mission’s main doors.

Even under their combined effort, it wasn’t budging.

“Do yourself a favor,” Seth said. “Stay down.”

An overwhelming despair cut through me, hollowing out my middle and leaving me cold.
I need

help,
I thought. The Guard wasn’t going to make it in time.
Karayan,
I willed the message to reach

her.
Karayan, please, help me.

“Hello.” Seth snapped his fingers in front of my face. “Are you still with us?”

“Huh?” I breathed. The connection I’d tried to forge with Karayan snapped.

“Eloquent little thing,” Illydia sniffed.

“Patience,” Seth said, giving his sister a patient smile. He turned back to me. “As I was saying, I

have a proposition for you.”

“Let me guess. You want me to join forces with you?” I asked, conscious of every moment I could

buy for Cassie and Lucas.

“I’d settle for you agreeing to sit this battle out,” Seth answered.

“And if I do—you’ll just let me go?”

“Seems very generous,” Illydia said. “Perhaps you should require a show of good faith first,

brother.”

Seth looked at me shrewdly. “Not a bad idea.” He glanced at Illydia. “Any suggestions?”

Without taking her eyes off of me, she raised one graceful hand to point straight at Lucas. “Kill

that one. Then you are free to go.”

I stared at Seth incredulous. “Seth?”

A slow smile spread across his face. “Hm. I kind of like this idea.” Seth turned his eyes toward

Lucas and Cassie, still struggling uselessly against the massive mission doors. “Look, they’re dead

one way or the other.”

Cold terror spilled down my spine. I scrambled away from Seth, meaning to sprint to Lucas and

Cassie. Maybe if we could get the doors open they could run.

I made it two steps before Seth caught me in a headlock. He leaned slightly forward, compressing

my throat against his forearm, cutting off my breath. I clawed at his skin.

“Take a moment to consider your options,” he said. “I don’t mind waiting.”

He eased back, and sweet air flooded into my lungs. I took a deep breath, then shifted my weight,

meaning to leverage him off his feet. Seth sensed my intentions. I felt his body tense as he drove his

fist into my lower back.

I cried out as fiery pain lanced through my core.

Lucas turned at the sound, eyes clouding with rage. He started toward us, but Cassie grabbed his

hand, stopping him. Lucas shrugged her off.

“Kidney,” Seth said grimly. “Hurts, doesn’t it?”

I choked back a sob, my mind grasping for a way out. Lucas was barreling toward us. If I didn’t act

soon, he’d be Seth’s next target and no one would be left to get Cassie to safety.

Seth still had me in a tight grip. I let my body go limp, my knees buckling. As I started to fall,

Seth released me. He must have bought the feint, because he wasn’t prepared when I kicked my good

leg up with all my might.

My foot caught him squarely in the chest and I heard a satisfying snap as one of his ribs cracked.

Seth hissed, stumbling back as a wave of pain crashed into him. I rolled to my feet, ready to press my

advantage.

“Get Cassie out of here!” I shouted to Lucas. He skidded to a stop, eyes narrowing. I needed him to

take care of her. “Please,” I said, pouring all my desperation into the word. Lucas clenched his jaw,

but he nodded. A rush of relief flooded through me when he turned away.

I’d forgotten Illydia.

She snaked her fingers into my hair and wrenched me back. I fell, sprawling onto the floor. She

dropped on top of me, hands latching around my throat. Unlike Seth, Illydia had no interest in

conversation—no interest in me. She squeezed. In seconds black spots were crushing out my field of

vision. I scrabbled uselessly against her grip; I couldn’t pry her fingers from around my throat.

I reached up, a last ditch effort. One of my hands caught a fistful of her long blond hair. I jerked

her closer, felt her grip loosen in surprise. I clapped my free hand against her forehead.

Images and thoughts rushed into my mind.
Illydia and Seth, passing for wealthy land owners,

traveling across the New World chasing rumors of a recently discovered seal. They’d carted their

prize across two continents looking for a door to the other plane, keeping the vessel carefully hidden

for close to 100 years, biding their time. Then, victory so close they could taste it, they began the

ritual. But the monks guarding the seal laid a trap for them—and Illydia fell into their clutches. With