Incubus of Bourbon Street (22 page)

The earth rumbled with complaint, nearly knocking me on my ass.

“Hold steady,” I heard Lucien call.

I straightened and focused on the disturbance right in the middle of the circle. Magic shot from me, Lucien, Bea, and Rosalee in an arcing stream, and that same red fire jumped from Kane and erupted right where our magic joined.

The blaze grew into an inferno so hot that heat broke out over my entire body. “Whoa.”

Kane took a step toward me, his clothes charred, but thankfully his body was unmarred. Our eyes met and in that moment a torrent of relief, mixed with determination, shot from him to me. An overwhelming urge to join him within the circle seized me. I didn’t want him to do this alone. Didn’t want him in that circle at all. It was too dangerous.

But just as I was about to take a step, the magic that was consuming me vanished, leaving me empty, gutted, and the red fire died to a slow burn right before it winked out. I glanced around, my thoughts jumbled. What had happened?

“Holy crow,” one of the younger members muttered.

The air was perfectly still, the night cloaked in near darkness now.

“Did it not work?” one of the female witches asked.

No one answered her. A soft whistle blew in on a light breeze, and I shivered with unease. If we hadn’t just been unleashing massive amounts of magic into the atmosphere, I’d think a tornado was coming. The night was thick with humidity as the wind picked up within the circle, swirling around, pushing against us. All of our witch’s robes flared out behind each of us.

“He’s coming,” I said softly.

“No.” Kane raised his hand in a stop motion. “He’s here.”

A loud boom filled the night, followed by a flash of bright red flames once again in the middle of the circle.

We all stared open-mouthed as the flames suddenly quenched, leaving behind a ten-foot demon with red leather skin and unending solid black eyes.

“Oh my God,” one of the younger witches said. Another gasped.

Kane took another step in my direction, but the demon swiveled and pointed a finger right at him.

“You! How dare you summon me from my place beside the king?” He took two steps forward and crooked his finger.

Kane doubled over in pain and his body propelled forward as if the demon had him on a hook.

“No!” I threw both hands out in front of me and unleashed the tiny bit of magic still pulsing beneath my heart. The white stream bounced off the demon, fizzled, and then faded away into the night air. Fear surged through me as I acknowledged for the first time that the demon might be more powerful than we’d anticipated. If we couldn’t take him down with our collective magic, we were in deep trouble.

The demon scowled in my direction and then gave me a dismissive glance. Focusing on Kane, he flexed his fingers once more. Kane stumbled forward, now only about a foot from the demon. “Who are you?”

“No one,” Kane answered on a cough.

“You’re a hunter,” the demon said thoughtfully. Then his chapped lips curved up into a frightening smile. “But your power’s been stripped.” Laughter rumbled from deep within the demon. Shaking with sick humor, he turned his evil eyes on me. “Is he an offering?”

“No,” I said defiantly.

“No?” The demon tilted his too-large head and eyed the rest of the coven. “Shall I take them all instead?”

Holy shit. Our magic was barely an annoyance to him. He was no doubt the most powerful and oldest demon we’d ever come in contact with. There was no way we were going to be able to eliminate him.

“If there is anyone to be taken, it’ll be me,” Kane said and squared his shoulders. “I’m the one who offered a blood sacrifice to summon you here.”

“Interesting,” the demon hissed. “We’re of the same mold.” His gaze roamed over Kane as he assessed him. “We could be a very powerful team, you and I.”

My stomach rolled at the thought of Kane in Hell, working with such a vile creature.

“We could,” Kane agreed. He straightened his shoulders and cast cold, empty eyes on the demon. “If I didn’t have a soul.”

“That can be arranged.” The demon narrowed his large black eyes, assessing Kane.

“And why would I give up my soul? So you could feed my spirit to Genesis? Where is your minion, anyway?” Kane asked, clearly fishing for information.

Magic tingled from either side of me, barely brushing my skin. My coven was rekindling the connection we’d lost when the demon arrived. I met Bea’s gaze from across the circle. She cut her eyes to the demon and then back to me as power filtered around the circle in an arc.

My body hummed with the combined magic again.

“She’s collecting my payment,” the demon said conversationally as if he wasn’t towering over Kane, looking like he could rip my husband’s head off with one swipe of his giant claw.

“You want me?” Kane asked, staring up at the demon with hate in his eyes. “The only way that’s going to happen is if we work a trade. Me for the lesser Goddess.”

A trade? What was he talking about? That wasn’t the plan. Shit! He knew we’d never be able to defeat the demon and he was changing the game. Dammit! There was no effing way I was letting him go anywhere with the demon.

“Genesis?” The demon rubbed at his chin. Then his eyes narrowed. “Why would I trade her? She’s been a good servant the last millennia.”

“Those are the terms. Me for her. You hand the Goddess off to the coven, and I’ll rule with you in Hell.”

Seriously, what in the world was Kane doing, offering himself up to the demon? Making a deal with a demon was permanent. He had to know that. He was a hunter.

The demon licked his lips, showing blackened teeth that were sharpened into points. Good Goddess, he was hideous. For some reason, his interest in Kane was piqued.

“Why?” I called suddenly.

Kane twisted and glanced over his shoulder at me, giving me a small hard shake of his head.

“Why what?” the demon asked, focusing on me for the first time. “Oh, you are delicious, aren’t you?” His tongue snaked out as he tasted the air. “Hmmm, and you’re strumming with incubus power.”

“She’s off limits,” Kane said, a muscle in his jaw twitching.

“But she’s yours, is she not?” The demon held out a hand to me. “So powerful and fresh. It’s been forever since I’ve had a white witch.”

The way he was looking at me made me want to gag.

Kane’s fists clenched as he glared at the demon from behind. “The deal is me for the Goddess.”

He rotated slowly in Kane’s direction, fire erupting over his skin. “I’m the one who’s in charge here, incubus. Don’t you forget it.”

“Hey, demon,” I called, desperate to get his attention off Kane. “Your Goddess already had her souls. Why was she trading them for Kane?” I asked, recalling Genesis’s obsession with him.

“I have plenty of regular souls. It was time for a new payment. Someone with power, someone with my blood.” The demon reached out and grabbed Kane by the neck. “Submit or die by my hand.”

Kane opened his mouth to speak, but when he couldn’t get the words out, he glared and mouthed “no.”

Oh my god. The demon had ordered Genesis to bring Kane to him. My heart slammed against my ribs as I frantically tried to think of something I could bargain with for Kane’s life. Nothing. I had nothing to give but myself. I was just about to plead my case when the demon let out a loud roar.

“Fool! No one denies me.” The flames transferred from the demon’s hand to my husband’s skin, erupting as if Kane had been doused in gasoline.

Kane howled and writhed, trying to get away from the demon’s grasp.

I shot a powerful stream of magic right at the demon’s face, hitting him directly in the left eye. The demon let go of Kane and stumbled backward, appearing more stunned than hurt.

“We were having a conversation here,” I spat at the demon, wishing I could blast him apart with the coven’s magic.

The demon shook his head and then he snarled and leaped for me. I didn’t even flinch. He was in the circle and couldn’t get to me unless I crossed the barrier.

He stood directly in front of me. “You’ll pay for that.”

“Maybe, but we were in the middle of negotiating a deal, were we not?” I did my best to not show any fear. I’d never get what I was after if he didn’t think I had value.

“You’ll do as I say, or I’ll end him.” He pointed at Kane again and then curled his hand as if he was crushing Kane’s throat. Kane sputtered and his face flushed red.

‘Stop!” I cried. “We’ll make a deal. All I ask is that you bring the Goddess to the circle first. We have unfinished business.” I wanted to offer myself in exchange for Kane, but I knew if I did that, the demon would likely take us both. I had to make sure Pyper was going to be safe before I could go down that route.

“No.” He tightened his grip, and Kane’s eyes started to bulge out of his head.

There was no more reasoning with the demon. He’d gone over the edge into beast mode. There was only one thing left to do. “Release!” Magic exploded from me as all the power my coven had been sending my way blasted him.

Bea, Lucien, and Rosalee followed suit, and our wrath poured into the demon at an alarming rate.

“Release!” I commanded again and focused on the demon’s hand clutching Kane’s neck. Slowly, one by one, each of his fingers lifted until Kane fell to his knees, holding his throat, gasping for air.

The demon stood in the center of the circle, vibrating with our magic, but then he stilled, seeming to gather his senses. He scowled and spun around in a circle, creating a small vortex around himself, shielding him from our raw stream of power.

“Focus,” I ordered the coven and guided every last bit of power into the magical current, but all it did was bounce off him.

“Stop,” Bea called from across the circle. Then she started to chant something I didn’t recognize. Latin or Greek maybe. I wasn’t sure, but a cloud of mist rose up around her, hung in the air, and then shot at the demon. His vortex shattered and he froze, breathing heavily as he eyed us all.

“You’ll all end up in Hell,” he warned. “I’ll come back for each and every one of you before your days on this earth end.” Then he lunged for Kane.

Kane rolled over on the grass, pulling something from his boot, and when the demon landed on him, Kane jabbed the small dagger into the demon’s neck. The demon bucked and howled, thrashing, but Kane held on and twisted.

I stood still, unsure what to do. I knew the small dagger wouldn’t do anything other than irritate the demon. Although that didn’t stop the demon’s blood from running down his face and pooling onto the earth. I wanted to help, to unleash more magic, but we’d thrown everything at him already, and he’d flicked us away as if we were fruit flies. Our magic was nothing to this demon. He’d just been toying with us, and now I knew we’d be lucky to get out of this alive.

Frustration took over, filling my chest. I wanted to scream and shout, to attack and end the demon with my bare hands. But I couldn’t. And if we didn’t do something soon, we’d lose Kane.

I met Bea’s worried gaze from across the circle. Her expression was just as dejected as mine must have been. We weren’t going to be able to defeat the demon. The best we could do was release him back into Hell. Our summoning would be for nothing.

We had no other choice. It was time. We couldn’t keep the demon here.

I raised my hands skyward once more and shouted, “From the earth to the shadows, the coven no longer seeks—”

Smoke shot up from a pool of the demon’s blood at the exact same time the air shifted, and demon hunters spilled from the shadows. Six of them circled us, their daggers raised.

“Release the circle,” Maximus ordered.

I was so relieved to see him, I did as I was told, no questions asked. Dropping my arms, I let all the magic go and yelled, “Let them through.”

Each of my witches took a step back, and the barrier vanished.

The demon hunters surrounded Kane and the demon.

Daggers flew, and I clasped my hand over my mouth, terrified for Kane. He was in the middle of them, unarmed except for the small knife still clutched in his hand.

Bea rushed to my side and grabbed my hand. “He’ll be okay.”

I shook my head, unable to speak. I could no longer sense Kane. The moment the demon had attacked him, his connection to the protection spell had shattered.

The demon erupted from the center of the hunters, and with fists flying, he roared and lunged. His large jaws closed over the shoulder of one of the demon hunters. The hunter stiffened and his dagger fell to the ground. Then a second later, his skin started to melt right before our eyes.

Horror filled me as I took a step back. The demon was poisonous.

Everything seemed to stop for a split second as the hunters registered what was happening.

A gasp came from behind us, and I felt my coven close in around me.

The demon let the hunter go and stalked toward the five remaining warriors. His eyes had turned red and his razor-thin claws were extended, ready for more battle.

The hunters seemed to steel themselves and then as if on cue, they all threw their daggers at the demon directly where his heart would be. Each dagger hit one right after the other in perfect succession.

The demon stumbled backward and fell to one knee when the last dagger pierced his chest. Blood still dripped from his maw, but the red glow of his eyes had faded.

Their magical daggers had weakened him.

The hunters spread out, forming a small circle around him and Kane. It was my first glimpse of Kane since the hunters had shown up, and he was lying flat on the ground, his eyes closed.

“Oh my God. Is he alive?” I whispered to Bea, my heart pounding so hard I feared it would jump right out of my chest.

“Of course he is, dear,” she said reassuringly and slipped her warm hand into mine.

Maximus strode up to the demon and stared down at him. “Victor, favorite of the damned, I hereby condemn you to final death.” Maximus whipped another dagger out of a side holder and plunged it into the demon’s right eye. He held on as the demon writhed in pain beneath his attack. And when the demon stilled, a blast of magic shot from Maximus’s hand into the hilt, and then the demon lit up with brilliant white light.