And here I stood, after moving through unknown doors that creaked open and shut, after a couple sets of stairs, numbering forty-seven steps. Or had it been fifty? Following the man, I’d kept track of his flashlight beam through the fabric. The human told us to stop and left us alone in the tunnel, bags still over our heads. Through the fabric I saw nothing; the area was pitch black, without so much a candle flame to light the way.
“Should we take off the bags?” Celeste whispered when the only sounds left were created by trickling water and rodents.
“No,” Marie said under her breath. “They need a show of submission from us, I think.”
I bucked at that idea, but she was right. Never show your cards, and as a female in some cultures, that also meant never show your strength and independence—at least not until the time is right. It was our wild card, our tactical advantage, to be underestimated. Not that my heart didn’t still argue with her plan.
“Now will you give us more information on these guys?” I asked the succubi leader, who up until this point had been too secretive for my comfort.
“They are called our brothers, but they are not,” she started. “They are like distant cousins sired by a cheating father.”
“Care to explain?” I asked, not knowing how much time I had to collect intel before the incubi arrived and wishing she’d stop talking in riddles.
Marie spoke after a few moments. “Incubi are not born, they’re created.”
Call me a purist, but I didn’t like the idea of anyone not born into their current species. Being born into a species is natural, organic. Being changed leaves too much open for question. Are they able to manage their new abilities? Do they misuse them? Do they hate their new self and want to take down any other creature they come across? And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. A few months ago I wouldn’t have even known such beings existed, and now I stood in their hidden, underground lair with a bag over my head, hoping they either knew how to control their incubus abilities or hadn’t yet learned how to use them in the first place.
“Where do they come from?” I asked, hoping to get an idea of their species’ cultural background.
“The product of a night of passion between a succubus and a vampire,” Marie answered. “At least, that’s how the first incubus’ maker came to be. Succubi only give birth to females, which leads me to believe the original maker, or sire, was female. The vampires were nearly extinct and the union was their last-ditch effort to preserve their kind. They nearly worshipped my kind for our generosity. Up until the last vampire walked the earth.”
Unholy shit.
“And you didn’t think to give me a warning of this in advance?” I asked, forcing myself to not rip off the head covering and run my ass out of there. I’d thought vampires were nothing more than legend, or maybe a species the Hunters had killed off in their early days.
“I didn’t want to chance you not joining me. This is what’s best for all Wild Women.” She paused. “And control your fear. They’ll feel it before getting within arm’s length. And they may use it to their advantage.”
“Do they bite?” Celeste asked.
Celeste sighed and I figured Marie was calming my sister with her touch. “They do not. They do not have fangs that I am aware of. They received their energy abilities from the succubus and the ability to change humans into their own kind from the vampire. From what I’ve heard, when they lie with human women, the women are unable to conceive their shared offspring. So all incubi have been changed, not born that way.”
I thought to ask her more about their inability to procreate, but decided it wasn’t important. I wasn’t planning on taking an incubus to bed. The thought of Marie’s sister staying here, with these incubi, popped into my head, but I was sure Marie had already contemplated the possible outcome of a succubus sleeping with an incubus. She didn’t need a reminder of the possible pairing and what could come of it. But her insistence that we get her sister now made more sense than ever, considering what I’d just learned.
Heavy footsteps with a wide gait entered my hearing and we silenced. What appeared to be a lantern came into my line of sight, its orange flame dancing as the man walked. The bark at the small of my back ached in a good way, readying to spread across my skin in protection. I took a deep breath to calm my protective instincts.
“As beautiful as you ladies look right now, I’m more than curious to see what’s behind the masks,” he said, his voice deep and smooth with hints of an accent too rough to be from any classical romance languages.
None of us moved.
“I know full well each of you is capable of tearing those bags to shreds in your own way. Playing the damsels won’t work with me. I know your capabilities.” He scoffed. “Plus, you’ll need your vision down here. You didn’t think I’d force my guests to discuss business affairs in such a cold, wet place, did you?”
I broke the rope tying the bag loosely around my neck and removed the fabric from my head. Before I could drop it to the ground, freeing up my hand, the man spoke again.
“Oh, wait, no, hold onto that, please. You’ll need it to leave here. Sorry, should have mentioned that.” Now that I could see the man behind the voice, I could see how well his looks matched his voice. He stood six feet tall and then some, his dark brown hair combed smooth atop his head. He wore dark suit slacks and a button up, with a couple buttons at the top open and his sleeves rolled over his forearms.
His eyes caught mine looking him over. “You are no succubus,” he said, peering me up and down in a way that intrigued me more than offended me.
I preferred to keep my species to myself. At least for the moment.
“No,” he went on. “Your energy carries different signatures, warrior signatures. Hmm, I can’t exactly place it, but I’ve felt such energy before, a long time ago.”
“So then you are very old?” Marie asked, her bag clutched in her hand. Celeste stood between Oliva and Marie, with Marie and me being the Wilds on the outside of the line we formed.
The man bowed his head for all of two seconds. “I am,” he said with a smile when he met her gaze. “Please, call me Aleksander. Come.” He turned and began walking deeper into the tunnels. “Follow me.”
I mentally pocketed another fun fact about the incubi: they were gifted or cursed with either a long life or immortality from their vampire side. Fabulous. We were potentially dealing with beings that couldn’t be killed. Then it hit me. A human male had retrieved us from the streets of Portland. Could these incubi also not go in the sunlight? Is that why they lived under the streets?
We followed Aleksander through the tunnels lined with brick archways, some narrow and some wide, leading to other parts of the unground system. A hundred years’ worth of dirt and pieces of old tools and shoes and various objects littered the ground. Based on the stories of these tunnels, I wondered if Marie felt an energy hanging around, one of fear or great sadness, because while I couldn’t feel actual energy like the succubi could, I definitely sensed an air of desperation down here.
Aleksander turned one last corner before propping open an old steel door and motioning for us to go inside. We entered a quaint room with two red Victorian style couches and a black velvet chaise lounge within it. A closed door occupied the wall opposite us. The tall incubus closed the door behind him. “Please, sit,” he said, waving toward the furniture.
The other Wilds and I exchanged glances before accepting the invitation. My sisters and I shared a couch while Marie chose the lounge, facing us at an angle, but off to the side a bit. Candles burned in large sconces attached to the walls and on shelves and end tables beside the couches. Aleksander stood at a dark wooden floor-to-ceiling cabinet and opened a glass door to retrieve four tumblers.
“You’re probably wondering how I got a schrank all the way down here,” he said as he removed the stopper from a crystal decanter and poured the caramel brown liquid into a tumbler. He turned toward us with glass in hand. “It wasn’t easy, not
by any stretch of the word.” He took a sip and shook his head. “I am so sorry. I rarely get visitors these days; I forgot my manners. Would you ladies like a drink?”
I looked to Marie to answer for us. She knew more about this man and his kind than we did.
“That would be very hospitable of you. Thank you,” Marie answered, with no inflection of her normal mischievous self.
The male poured a finger of what looked and smelled like brandy into each of our glasses, and handed them to us before taking a seat on the couch facing my sisters and me. “Now that the pleasantries have been taken care of, let’s get down to business,” he said, his inviting smile no longer present. “I understand you’re here to retrieve one of your own—Heather.”
“You would understand correctly,” Marie said. She sat straight with both her feet firmly planted on the ground. What I wouldn’t give to be able to read his energy like she no doubt was currently doing.
The incubus leaned back and rested his right ankle on his left knee. He sighed and glanced at me with a twitch in the corner of his lips before his focus rested back on Marie. “Then while I wouldn’t call your visit a complete waste—sharing drinks with beautiful women is something of a passion of mine—I do regret to inform you that you will most certainly not be leaving with Heather.”
Ten
Everything in me wanted to spring from the chair and demand that the incubus return our Wild sister to us, but I reminded myself that Heather was here of her own volition. That fact was all that kept me on the couch, squished between my huldra sisters. I clenched the cushion beneath my legs to hold me back. My fingers ached with want to grow vines from their tips and wrap the green ropey plants around his neck.
“Now, now,” Aleksander crooned directly at me. “There’s no reason to get angry.”
He gave a short, deep laugh. “She really is a powerhouse, isn’t she?” he asked Marie.
The succubus gave no response.
“It’s just come to me!” Aleksander said, slapping his knee, and still not spilling his brandy. “Why hadn’t I realized it sooner?” He peered at Marie. “I’m losing my sharpness it appears.” He turned back to me. “You’ve got the energy of a shield maiden. Powerful and fierce in your own right. It fits you like a glove, by the way.” He tapped his finger on the glass he held. “You must be huldra then.” He waited for my response, an expectant half-smile on his lips and a gleam in his eyes.
Was this a game to him? I shouldn’t expect anything different, really. Marie loved playing mind games, why wouldn’t an incubus? Except, something told me he wasn’t playing games. This was Aleksander, and he relished in…whatever this was. The incubus piqued my interest, his ability to exuded masculinity without any of the traditionally masculine behaviors like aggression and dominance. Marcus wasn’t dominant either, but the Hunter in him held onto the aggression living just beneath his surface. I didn’t fault him for it. As long as he didn’t use that aggression against me or my kind. Except, hadn’t he a little this morning, when he’d demanded that I not meet with the incubi? When he’d thrown around the “trust” word as a means to get me to do what he wanted? Had he been trying to control me? No. Marcus wouldn’t do that. Would he?
I scolded myself for comparing the two supernatural males and responded to Aleksander’s assessment. “Yes, I’m a huldra. And you’re an incubus. So why isn’t Heather here telling us she refuses to come home with her sister? Why are you the one relaying the message, seeing as you’re neither a huldra nor a succubus?”
My curt response did nothing to dissuade his friendly demeanor. “She’s young, you know,” he said to me, like that explained everything. “An adult, yes, but young by my standards anyhow. She still cares what her leader thinks of her, doesn’t wish to let her leader down.” He jerked his head toward Marie a fraction of a second before she began talking.
“While it’s easy to believe what you say, how can I leave without seeing my sister first? Without ensuring her safety?” Marie asked. She crossed her legs and sipped her drink. I couldn’t be sure if her relaxed confidence was real or not. I supposed that was the point.
In a way, I felt like a child watching the adults discuss matters above my head. Except they weren’t exactly discussing these things verbally, I assumed. I was at a disadvantage in that I couldn’t read energy the way those two were probably currently doing. I had no idea what kind of energy messages were flying back and forth. My methods of getting information were more physical and, like a child, I didn’t know how much longer I could sit still.
Aleksander considered Marie’s words as he rubbed small circles with one finger on his tumbler. He didn’t look my way, but I sensed he saw me watching his finger. A smile rose on one side of his mouth and too late I realized he felt the sexual energy building within me. It had been a while since Marcus and I had had any kind of good sex, and I don’t mean quiet quickies. If I really thought about it, the disconnect between Marcus and me had started before the Oregon winery trip, though I couldn’t put my finger on exactly when.
Speaking of fingers, I pulled my gaze from Aleksander’s and pushed all thoughts of sexual pleasure from my mind. Wrong time. Wrong place. Wrong male.
The incubus’s half-smile dropped and he gulped down the rest of his drink before standing to set his glass on the cabinet counter he’d pulled it from. “I’ve got an idea,” he said, turning to face us.
My legs itched to stand, to be at eye level with him, but I did as Marie and stayed seated.
“Do tell,” Marie said not too quickly so as to seem needy, but not too slowly so as to seem suspicious.
“Well, the way I see it, you need to know your sister is here on her own accord and faring well before you’ll feel comfortable enough to leave. Yet your sister fears telling her leader that she wishes to stay with a kind that is not her own,” he said.
Marie nodded.
“Middle men tend to work well in these situations. And I’ve got one on standby for such an occasion as this.” Aleksander ran his fingers through his brown hair, just long enough to give way to his hand, but still keeping it tidy.
Before Marie gave an answer, Aleksander landed three loud knocks on the door we’d entered through and stepped back. It opened and a younger looking man with blond hair entered the room, shutting the door behind him. Still, I balked at Marie’s lack of vehement rejection to the idea of not seeing her sister, not checking to make sure she was okay.
“You called, my king?” the baby-faced man said.
“Yes, thank you for joining us. Please,” Aleksander said, motioning to the couch he’d been sitting on earlier. “Take a seat.”
With both men on opposite sides of the room, I wasn’t sure which to keep an eye on. But Aleksander quickly relieved my little problem when he stood behind the younger incubus. “Mason,” Aleksander said. “These are our neighboring Wild Women. I’m sure you can feel the succubus, you’re well acquainted with such energy, but the other three are huldra, if you were wondering.”
Mason’s eyes widened as he took in my sisters and me. I made a mental note to ask Marie if they could see energy too, and if there was any way to hide mine from view. “Thank you, sire,” the young man uttered.
“Mason, these women are concerned for Heather’s well-being. Will you please explain to them why their succubus has chosen to stay with us?” Aleksander requested.
Mason nodded. “Yes, of course, sire.” He spoke mainly to Marie. “We are in love.”
Marie’s control wavered for a millisecond before she regained it again. “I’m uncertain how this is even possible,” she said with the diplomacy of a queen.
“Your sister respects your place in the galere and is thankful for your concern,” Mason went on to explain. “But we wish to be together, not separated. And her safety is my top priority.”
His words hit a nerve and I accidently spoke up. “Her safety is her priority, how she stays safe is her choice.”
He regarded me. “Yes, and this is her
choice.”
Marie gave one nod and pushed her hair back from her shoulder. “Then you may come stay with us temporarily, if she cannot be separated from you. But all sisters of mine must live under one roof.”
Marie’s judgement may have seemed harsh, but I knew she did so with the best intentions. Succubi are stronger with numbers. Their group is the largest Wild group, outside of the mermaids, for a reason. They can’t flee by swimming into the sea, flying away, vanishing, or tree-jumping, like the rest of us. Their option is to stand together and combine their energies to overpower their foe. They need each other. The absence of one weakens them all.
Aleksander answered Marie, the two leaders discussing what seemed like young love, but in reality was the basis of a political relationship. “She has heard the latest news in the Wild Women war, and she chooses to stay out of it.”
Marie blinked her eyes and cleared her throat, obviously taken aback. “I do not accept this.” She flexed and then folded her hands on her lap. “She is one of us and would never choose to betray us with such disloyalty.”
Aleksander gave a quick nod to Mason, who bowed his head before removing his long sleeve shirt. His stature was smaller than Aleksander’s, but still lean muscles lined his chest and abs. A dragon tattoo wound up his bicep, twisting around it. But our focus was the ink freshly needled into his skin, on his right pec, where a dragon and a snake were knotted up with foreheads touching. An outsider of the succubus/incubus world, even I knew the meaning behind such body art.
Marie’s breath hitched. I didn’t need energy reading skills to translate the shift in the room from tense to battle-ready.
“Please,” Aleksander said with hands open, palm out. “We are not your enemy.”
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