Son of a Succubus Series Collection

by Dorie, Sarina

  Lucifer closed his eyes, prodding at Odette’s soul so that he could feel her essence. He traced the trail of her back through the forest, out of spring and into summer. This wasn’t so different from the times he had been trying to follow MacCoinneach’s steps through the forest to find him. If anything, it was easier. Odette hadn’t been sneaking around using magic to camouflage herself. Even in a flock of birds, her spirit was uniquely Witchkin.

  He followed the trail of her essence to a palatial estate in a lush garden. There were green crests of interwoven plants adorning the walls. It looked like the Verde Court’s crests, but the palace wasn’t large enough and decadent enough to belong to a Fae prince. The people milling about were Witchkin. Lucifer spotted Duke Reginald Tinaalto yelling at a servant, looking flustered.

  He understood. This was the Tinaalto home, not that of their sovereign.

  Lucifer withdrew himself from the astral projection and snapped back into his own body.

  “Why were you at the Tinaalto estate?” Lucifer blinked at the sudden brightness of the room, though it was still fairly dark aside from the fire in the hearth. “Why would you think Abigail would go there rather than coming here?”

  Odette’s eyes widened, almost imperceptibly, before her face smoothed back into an expressionless mask. “I didn’t, but I was obligated to confirm she hadn’t gone there with Hattie.”

  With Hattie. Her words sank in.

  “Both girls are missing?” Lucifer’s belly churned. “Where’s Godric? Does he know?”

  Odette snapped her fingers at him and beckoned him closer. “You’ve proven your usefulness. You’re coming back with me.”

  That didn’t answer his questions. There appeared to be more here than she was letting on.

  Baba nodded to Kelsie. “Fetch the water. We have herbs to prepare.”

  That sounded ominous.

  Odette stepped closer and lifted an arm as if to wrap it around him. Lucifer thought she might embrace him. Instead, feathers whispered across his back. The gloom of night and tingle of starlight sank into him, ice washing over his flesh. His breath was sucked from his lungs. The world around him twisted into black wisps of smoke. It felt as though the fabric of his body was being torn into pieces and reassembled. One moment he was intangible, in a state somewhere near the realm of the underworld, and then he was solid again.

  He staggered and choked. Pain lanced through his arm, dimming his mental faculties. He stood beside Odette in a decadent parlor. Clarissa, clad in hot pink, paced the room, pausing when she saw him. Felix sat on a settee, his eyes closed as he muttered an incantation. From the clamp on his arm, Lucifer took it he was using pain magic.

  Lucifer scraped away the fire in his arm and shielded himself from his brother’s magic. He didn’t know how Odette and Clarissa could stand to be in the same room with Felix’s spell. It made Lucifer’s stomach queasy.

  Clarissa halted, looking from Odette to Lucifer. “What are you doing here? Do you know something about Abigail’s disappearance?”

  “No, but he’s proven his ability to be a superior tracker.” Odette frowned at Felix, who remained motionless in meditation on the settee. “I thought he might be useful. Especially if finding those brats might prevent a war with the Verde Court.”

  “No one said anything about a war.” Clarissa’s voice rose in panic. “You’re jumping to conclusions.”

  Odette shrugged. “If you’ve lost one of their heirs, they’ll hold you responsible.”

  That meant Hattie was with her for some reason.

  “Take me to the place Abigail and Hattie were last seen,” Lucifer said.

  Clarissa nodded to Odette. “Take him to her room.”

  Grimly, Odette led him away.

  * * *

  Lucifer’s magic wasn’t pushed to its limits as it had been the last time he’d visited the castle. There were undercurrents of people all around him, but they were floors away or in different rooms. The pleasure, pain, and every other sensation in their bodies didn’t press in on him.

  He followed Odette down hallways decorated with beautiful art and elegant rugs, tapestries and mirrors in gilded frames. He recognized the hallway outside the nursery.

  Izzy sat in the rocking chair, burping a baby over her shoulder when Odette strolled in. Immediately Odette glided over to one of the cribs and placed a hand on a dozing baby. He hadn’t ever seen her face hold anything other than disdain or apathy at best, but her expression softened upon gazing at the baby. There was another nurse in the room, but she backed away from Odette, retreating silently into a corner.

  “Lucy, why are you here?” Izzy asked.

  He stared at her incredulously. “I came to help find Abigail.”

  Izzy bit her lip. “Oh. That makes sense.”

  Why wouldn’t she have expected him to come? Just because he was Baba’s apprentice didn’t mean he was a prisoner.

  Odette waved a hand at the room. “Do your thing. I haven’t brought you here to gab with the help.”

  Izzy rolled her eyes.

  Lucifer strode past the nursery, down the short hall, and into Abigail’s room. He closed his eyes and projected himself into the room, feeling around for her presence. Abigail’s essence was everywhere in the room, remnants clinging like cobwebs. Among those residual threads he felt Izzy as well. He hadn’t met Hattie more than once, but he felt her essence in the room, specifically in Izzy’s bed where she must have slept.

  It was impossible to follow every thread. This was more like finding a needle in a haystack than a cat trying to follow the scent of a mouse. Abigail was everywhere, a path well worn to the hallway out of the room. He followed it, uncertain he could provide the assistance he’d promised.

  But Baba had believed in him.

  “I didn’t see them leave,” Izzy said in the other room.

  “If only you made as decent a babysitter as a nursemaid,” Odette said coolly. “Perhaps you were shirking your duties again. Sneaking off for a clandestine romance of your own.”

  “I wasn’t shirking any duties.” Izzy raised her voice, and the baby in her arms stirred.

  “Hush,” the other nurse said.

  Lucifer hesitated at the entrance of the nursery, uncertain he wanted to step between Odette and Izzy.

  “I was here the entire time. Godric wasn’t even here with Hattie yesterday.” Izzy laid a baby in a crib. “I was awake in the nursery most of the night. Unless they glamoured themselves, I don’t see how they got past me.”

  Lucifer hadn’t intended to project his awareness into Izzy, but he felt the burden of guilt in her heart. It might have been the regret of not being able to stop Abigail from doing something foolish. Or it might be something more.

  “Did Hattie have any secrets? A boyfriend?” Lucifer asked. “Might Abby have tried playing matchmaker with her and someone else?” That was the kind of thing she would do, a misplaced favor.

  “I don’t know. No, I don’t think so.” Izzy didn’t meet his eyes.

  “But they were being secretive in their conversations yesterday,” the other nurse said quietly from her corner.

  Izzy gave her a sharp look. “I suppose they could have been speaking about something like a secret romance and not told me.” She glanced at Odette and the other nurse. “I just thought it was because of, well, I don’t know if I should say.” She bit her lip, glancing to Lucifer and then away. “Maybe I should tell you in private.”

  Odette stepped in closer. “If you are harboring a secret that could explain where Abigail is and not being forthcoming, I will see to it you’re fired from the nursery. I will remove the care of your child from your possession and have you thrown out of the Raven Court’s safekeeping.”

  Lucifer flinched at the ice in Odette’s words.

  “No! You can’t.” Izzy placed herself in front of one of the cribs.

  “Ladies.” Lucifer strategically inched himself between Odette and Izzy. �
��That sounds a little extreme. There’s no reason to make threats.” Izzy was Abigail’s friend. She wasn’t a spy hiding secrets.

  Fury rolled off Odette in waves. “I can and I will throw you out if I deem you to be a risk to the royal family of this castle. Start talking.” Any hint of softness Lucifer had glimpsed in Odette as she’d gazed at a baby earlier was now gone.

  Lucifer shifted from foot to foot anxiously. Abigail had said Odette was like Vega. Scary. He could see it was true. There was a reason they tolerated each other so well.

  Izzy hung her head in shame. “It isn’t that kind of secret. Nothing to do with Hattie or Abby, really. It was gossip. That’s all.” Tears filled her eyes. “I told Abby that she shouldn’t repeat it to Hattie because she might tell the Tinaaltos, and they would think poorly of Lucifer.” She looked to him with pleading in her eyes. “I’m sorry.”

  “What gossip?” he asked, confused.

  “About your baby.” Izzy said the last word as a whisper.

  “Oh.” His shame rose in him. Now wasn’t the time to think about the baby he’d lost. He needed to focus on Abigail, on trying to figure out where she’d gone.

  Izzy took his hand, her pity rushing into him with each word. “Hattie said she already knew. She’d overheard her parents. They thought she wasn’t listening, but she was. Prince Mixcoatl knew about Lucy being a Red affinity and an incubus before he came to the party. He’s been following his liaisons with the people of the forest closely—most of those wood nymphs and vilas are subjects of his court—though many like the muileateaches are rogue Fae and don’t align themselves with anyone.”

  Lucifer stared at her incredulously. He’d gotten the feeling the Fae prince had known more about him than he’d let on. His bargain on Godric’s behalf had seemed generous. Far too easy. Lucifer wondered if this was information he intended to use as leverage against Izzy or Godric if he found some term unfavorable. Or perhaps Mixcoatl still planned to use this knowledge to his advantage.

  “Prince Mixcoatl knew about Morag’s pregnancy before you did. That’s what Hattie said,” Izzy spoke quickly now as she clasped his hand. The anguish in her chest was that of a mother in sympathy for his loss. Lucifer felt her heartbreak for him with each beat of her heart. “Prince Mixcoatl tried to purchase the baby from the care of the muileateaches after they took the baby, but they wouldn’t give him up. That’s what Hattie and Abby were talking about yesterday. But after I scolded them for talking about you and your affairs so openly, they wouldn’t talk about it in front of me anymore.”

  Lucifer swallowed. “You don’t think Abby would have done something foolish like try to go to Prince Mixcoatl, do you?”

  Odette let out a hiss of disgust.

  “Probably,” the other nurse muttered.

  Izzy placed a hand on her heart. “I should hope not! Especially not after all the stories I told her about him and the Verde Court. She’s too idealistic and innocent to last a minute in a court of Fae.”

  “What about muileateaches?” Lucifer asked. “Do you think she would have tried to go to them? To try to convince them to give her my baby?” It was the sort of thing he could imagine she would do. She’d always had a soft spot for babies. He worried he shouldn’t have told her about Galen now.

  “You idiot.” Odette strode forward so fast she could have been made of wind. She slapped Izzy across the face. “These are two important leads you could have shared with us yesterday.”

  Izzy stumbled back. The sting was so strong, it blazed in Lucifer’s own face. He didn’t let that stop him from action.

  He dove between his sister and friend. “Stop it. Izzy doesn’t deserve that. She wasn’t trying to hinder you from finding Abby.”

  “Good intentions pave the road to the Faerie Realm and everything dangerous above and below. Remember that the next time one of your supposed friends goes missing.” Odette sauntered out of the room. She called over her shoulder, “I’ll be sending word to the Verde Court and searching the bogs for the muileateaches in case Queen Clarissa asks.”

  Izzy wrapped her arms around herself, quaking in fear and guilt. Lucifer hugged her and sat her down in the rocking chair. “I don’t blame you. I’m sure Clarissa and Felix won’t either. Go to them if Odette is cruel and threatens to punish you.” He didn’t want her to have to relive the trauma of being abused in the Verde Court. Nor did he want her to fear for her baby or her survival.

  “I’m fine.” Izzy offered him a small smile. “Odette is just prickly like that when she’s worried. It means she cares about Abby, even if she’d never say that out loud.”

  “Did you hear Abby talk about anything else yesterday?” he asked. “Why would Abby have brought Hattie with her if she left to go to the muileateaches?”

  “Misery loves company,” the other nurse said in the corner as she picked up a fussing baby.

  “I can’t imagine she would have,” Izzy said. “Hattie’s blind. She’s drained. She would be useless in the forest as a guide. I would have been a better choice as a companion on a dangerous mission.”

  Izzy’s words rang true. Abigail could be foolish in her tactics for trying to get her way, but he couldn’t imagine she would endanger Hattie. She wouldn’t have brought her to seek out the muileateaches. Perhaps if Abby wanted to make her case to Mixcoatl with an ally from his court, she might bring Hattie, but he didn’t see how pleading to the prince on his behalf to intervene with the muileateaches would help. The Fae sovereign had already attempted to do so, whether his interference had been benign or malicious.

  Lucifer returned to Abigail’s room, searching for some sign of where she had gone. Izzy trailed after him.

  “Could she have been coerced? Kidnapped?” he asked.

  Izzy wrung her hands. “Abby doesn’t have enemies. Everyone is her friend.”

  Lucifer recalled how Abigail had recounted all the people she was friends with. Vega had sneered at her as though it was a defect. False friends would be a weakness, especially if Abigail was too naive to see it.

  “What about the assistant cook? Trevor?” Lucifer strode over to the little white desk painted with flowers. There were no letters out in the open. “He’s the one who lays golden goose eggs or something. They fought the night of the ball.” Lucifer couldn’t completely blame Trevor. He’d been trying to prevent Abigail from mischief. Even so, he might have held it against her and gotten revenge on her.

  “Trevor’s her friend. He wouldn’t do anything to her. Abby truly doesn’t have enemies. Everyone loves her. Despite her shortcomings.” Izzy stood at the window, gazing out at the garden.

  Lucifer opened the drawers, searching for papers that might reveal a clue of where she could have gone.

  “Who else could have been here the night of the ball who might have been jealous of Abigail? Maybe a young man she spurned?” He tried to think of a possible answer, something he wasn’t seeing. “What about those children who used to make fun of her for not having a complete soul?”

  A wistful smile laced her lips. “They’re friends with her now. All it took was a batch of brownies to win them to her side. The brownies didn’t even have magic in them.”

  Lucifer opened her books, shaking Pride and Prejudice to see if any secret letters fell out. A pressed red clover slid from between two pages, an arrangement of lavender from another. Pink petals of a rose fell out, the scent wafting toward Lucifer. He felt mildly guilty that he was ruining her collection of pressed flowers.

  He closed his eyes, shifting into the subtle energies of the room once again. He tried to pinpoint the last place Abigail had stood, where her essence was strongest. It was easier to pinpoint Hattie, as there was less of her in the room. She had stood at the window where Izzy now stood. Apprehension lingered in the air, feeling like pain in the chest, shortness of breath, and trembling hands. It was difficult to determine whether it had been Hattie’s anxiety, or it was Izzy’s current state.

  “Would you
mind moving to the side?” Lucifer asked.

  Izzy stepped away from the window. Lucifer unlatched the window and opened it. A ghostly imprint of Abigail’s essence lingered on the frame, as did Hattie’s. Lucifer gazed down at the ground three stories below. The thick clematis could be used for climbing. Abigail had told him the other nurse’s secret lover came in that way. He reached out his awareness, finding more of Abigail’s essence outside. It was recent too.

  “Son of a Fae,” he muttered.

  “What? Do you see something?” Izzy asked.

  “It’s how they got out without going past you.”

  * * *

  Lucifer stood below Abigail’s window, mentally reaching out to find the place her trail left the vines she had used to climb down. He still found it unbelievable she had somehow convinced Hattie to climb down with her.

  It was easier to follow their trail in the garden. Whispers of her older trails lingered, but none were as strong as this one. Lucifer passed gardeners clipping hedges and weeding. Every so often he caught another kind of plant magic mixed in with Abigail and Hattie’s. It was the kind of dark-bright magic he’d come to recognize as a leshi’s.

  His belly cramped with panic.

  Lucifer hastened to follow the trail. A gardener walked toward him, a man named Yoshi. Lucifer remembered meeting him the night of the ball. Yoshi was small, his build as slender as a tree. There was a hint of Fae glamour around the man, making him look more human than he naturally was.

  The man shuffled along the path toward Lucifer, examining the bases of the hedges. He was so lost in whatever task he was performing he didn’t see Lucifer, who had to step out of the way for the man.

  “Pardon me,” Lucifer said, watching him warily.

  Yoshi didn’t answer. Lucifer found that peculiar. He’d been friendly enough when Abigail had introduced them.

  Yoshi was Abigail’s teacher. A Fae, but one whose affinity was tied closely to nature. She had said he’d been teaching her plant magic. Lucifer wondered how a kimura differed from a leshi—aside from being Japanese.

  Yoshi’s magic wasn’t the same as the dark-bright remnants Lucifer had felt earlier. The fatigue weighing down Yoshi’s body bordered on painful.