Incubus Bonded

by A. H. Lee

  “What’s wrong?” Azrael spoke without looking up.

  Mal’s eyes flicked to his face. He hadn’t realized he was registering any emotion. Ask him the question, whispered a voice in the back of Mal’s head. Do it now.

  Mal felt sick. The last traces of euphoria vanished. He picked up a red and gold leaf from the table and started folding it over and over. “Did I… Did I hurt you? Before I can remember?”

  Azrael stopped writing. He looked up and studied Mal’s face for a moment. Mal looked back, anxious. Finally, Azrael returned his attention to the map. “I am not harboring any resentment about things that happened before you were yourself, Mal.”

  This answer did not reassure him. “Yes, but did I?”

  Azrael laid down his pen and covered his face with both hands. “Mal, do you want to play dress-up this evening? Do you want to go to the theater?”

  “Yes.”

  “Then please. Let me work.”

  Chapter 24

  Jessica

  Jessica came in from sword practice, pink-cheeked and pleasantly sore. It was half-past noon and she wondered if Mal and Azrael might have already eaten. However, she saw no signs of this in the kitchen, and she found them both in the garden, intensely focused on the map, which was beginning to look curiously textured. She was relieved to note that Azrael looked both unharmed and unravished.

  “I brought Kiki’s!” she called. Kiki was a vendor whose round, pleasant face reminded Jessica of Yuli. She sold delicious rolls of seasoned rice, meat, and vegetables wrapped in rice paper, along with fantastic dipping sauces.

  Mal’s head came up. “Yum!”

  He said something to Azrael, who only gave a distracted nod. Mal bounded into the cottage. “Jessica, a faery corrupted Mrs. Sworenson.”

  Jessica gaped. “What?”

  “She tried to get me to let her in. When I wouldn’t, she got mean, and I saw one of those silver eyes in her shadow.”

  Jessica shivered. “What did you do?”

  “Azrael purged her. It was only a sliver of faery magic. Sometimes, if it’s too much, you can’t get rid of it without killing the victim, but she’ll be fine.”

  Jessica bit her lip. “I don’t like all this faery stuff.”

  “Me neither,” said Mal. “We should just go home.”

  Jessica smiled. “Is Azrael coming in to eat?”

  “I think so. He’s been working hard.”

  “Do you think he’ll come to the play?”

  “I don’t know.”

  Jessica was too hungry to wait. She and Mal were halfway through their meal when Azrael stalked into the kitchen and sank into a chair. He examined a roll. “What is this?”

  “It’s delicious,” said Mal, “eat it.”

  “Oh!” Jessica got up. “I bought you tea. I’ll put on the kettle.”

  The tea seemed to improve Azrael’s mood considerably, and after a cautious nibble on a roll, he devoured three of them. “I was thinking,” he said as they were polishing off the last morsels, “if I’m going to buy you clothes, Mal, I should buy you something you can wear to the inaugural ball. Jessica, too. I doubt you have clothes for that.”

  Mal looked startled. “You’re taking us?”

  Azrael didn’t quite meet his eyes. “If I have to deal with a lot of these shadow monsters, Lucy won’t be enough. Also, if I’m going to my trial and taking you anyway, there’s no point in hiding you.”

  Mal grinned. “So when are we going shopping?”

  Azrael stood up. “Now.”

  “Right now?”

  “Yes, it’ll take the tailors at least that long to make alterations, if they can finish the clothes today at all. Jessica, when is this play?”

  “Seven in the evening.”

  “Then let’s go.”

  Chapter 25

  Mal

  Mal could not have told the location of a single clothing shop in Tanisea, but Jessica seemed to know them all. “What are the fashions in Kotos?” she asked Azrael. “Is it very Shattered Sea? Or more like the mundanes? More modern?”

  “A little of both,” said Azrael. “They’ll wear waistcoats and black ties to this.”

  “I think I know which tailor, then.”

  The shop she chose featured a bewildering array of patterned waistcoats, ties, cravats, cummerbunds, frilly neckerchiefs, and coats in formal styles. Azrael seemed pleased. There was some fussing as the tailor fitted Mal for black trousers. Then Azrael sent him into the dressing room with four different waistcoats to try over a simple white shirt. “It’s more about the cut than the color,” Azrael told him.

  But Mal liked the colors—green and gold and red and blue. He thought that Jessica and Azrael would choose the green one because it matched his eyes, but when he came out wearing the red one, they both paused for a moment. “What?” asked Mal.

  Jessica started to say something, but Azrael spoke first. “Let’s try that with this.” He handed Mal a black, long sleeved shirt with a starched feel and thick cuffs. Mal went back into the dressing room and paused to look at himself in the mirror. The waistcoat wasn’t solid red. It had a pattern in black. The material was velvet brocade (he knew this because Azrael had said it), and the velvet felt like fur beneath his fingers. The black parts looked like fern leaves, curling up over his chest, and the red background was very dark, like wine.

  When he came out, the tailor had joined Jessica and Azrael. The tailor clapped his hands. “Very nice look for you, sir. I will need to take in the waistcoat just a bit. Broad shoulders, narrow waist. You must be popular with the ladies.”

  “I’m popular with everyone,” rumbled Mal. The tailor actually blushed. He didn’t say anything else, but moved around Mal, pulling and pinning.

  Mal glanced at Jessica. “How do I look?”

  She grinned. “Dangerous.”

  “Is that good?”

  “It is from where I’m standing.”

  Azrael was walking around him. He seemed to be looking at every part of Mal except his eyes. “Yes, I think that will do. Gold cufflinks. Top hat. And one of those long-tailed jackets.”

  Jessica giggled. “We should get him an earring and a cutlass.”

  Azrael gave a snort of laughter.

  Mal did not entirely understand what they were laughing about, but he did understand that everyone in the room thought he looked attractive. Azrael stopped in front of him, stepped very close, and said, “You’ll need a bowtie for the ball, but if you want my advice for the play, just this.” He unbuttoned the top two buttons of Mal’s shirt and paused on the third.

  Azrael’s fingers brushed the skin near his throat. Mal couldn’t breathe. He wanted to catch Azrael’s hand and hold it against his chest. Look at me. Please.

  Distantly, he heard Azrael say, “No, that’s probably too much.”

  Mal stared at his face, willing him to raise his eyes.

  Azrael finally did. He still had that critical expression—as though he were evaluating a spell, trying to get it just right. But when he glanced at Mal’s face, his mouth tugged up into a smile. “Do you like being dressed up like a doll? Is it everything you hoped?”

  Mal grinned back at him. “Yes.” Because you’re looking at me like that—like you can’t help but smile.

  Azrael looked away. “Let’s try on some jackets.”

  They tried on jackets, along with hats. The jackets had very long tails and very high waists. “What about you?” said Jessica to Azrael. He’d worn one of his charcoal gray suits into town.

  “I brought dress clothes,” said Azrael, “although I’ll need to have them pressed, and I should probably buy a top hat. What I’m wearing right now should do for the play.”

  “Are your dress clothes as fancy as these?” asked Mal, arching an eyebrow. He wasn’t sure whether he should be flattered or annoyed that Azrael kept avoiding his eyes.

  “I do not need to look fancy,” said Azrael. “I need to look correct. I certainly don’t want to appear to be t
rying.”

  “What does that mean?” asked Mal.

  “It means he doesn’t intend to seduce the prince,” said Jessica.

  “Neither do I.”

  “Well, you look as though you intend to seduce someone.”

  “I do,” purred Mal.

  Azrael ignored this. “Lucy would really enjoy a play, and I should probably ask her opinion about that poor woman from this morning.”

  “Oh, don’t bring her out,” groaned Mal. “She ruins everything.”

  But Azrael only shook his head. “She’d like helping with Jessica’s dress, too.” He turned to the tailor and asked, “How long do you think the alterations will take?”

  The tailor shrugged. “A couple of hours. It’s the off-season; we’re not busy.”

  Azrael nodded. “Mal, we’ll come back and pick you up for dinner.”

  Chapter 26

  Jessica

  Jessica wished, again, that she could see auras. She was getting the distinct impression that something had happened between Azrael and Mal while she was gone—nothing very physical, surely, but something. Mal was alternating between hyper-responsive and distracted. Azrael wasn’t meeting his eyes. Jessica wished she had taken five minutes to pull Mal aside back at the cottage and ask.

  At any rate, playing dress-up with Mal was a delight, and she could tell that Azrael was enjoying it, too. You should have gone ahead with that third button.

  As they stepped out the door onto the sidewalk, she whispered, “Are you sure we should have left him alone with the poor tailor?”

  “He’s probably hungry,” said Azrael. “I’ve certainly used enough of his magic.”

  He’s hungry for something, thought Jessica. Aloud, she said, “He doesn’t seem tired. The monster that Loudain killed must have had a lot of magic.”

  “It did.”

  They strolled down the sidewalk, Jessica leading the way towards a dress shop she liked. “I know I’ve told you this before, but you have fantastic taste in both clothes and men.”

  Azrael smiled, tried not to laugh, gave up. “I seem to have blind luck with women. I certainly didn’t see you coming.”

  “No,” said Jessica smugly, “you didn’t.” More seriously, she added, “What would Mal have done if you hadn’t preferred men?”

  “Oh, he would have been a succubus. Aspects of Lust aren’t sexually differentiated when they arrive. He could take a female shape for the first couple of years.”

  Jessica was fascinated. “Really?”

  “Yes, I called her Vee—his third name; that’s his girl name. His shape was more flexible back then.”

  “That’s so interesting. Why do they…” She glanced around to make certain nobody was walking nearby. “Why do astral demons lose those abilities?”

  Azrael pursed his lips. “Short answer: it’s part of becoming more human.”

  “And the long answer?”

  Azrael hesitated. “I’m not sure I’m ready to tell Mal the long answer.”

  “Mal’s not here.”

  Azrael gave her an indulgent smile. “Telling you is the same as telling Mal.”

  “Oh, not true! I can keep a secret.”

  “Another time.”

  “Laurence.”

  “You know my name is not a magic spell, right? Stop using it in public.”

  Jessica groaned. “Fine. Let’s find a safe place to call Lucy.”

  Lucy was delighted when she learned that she’d been called from her bottle to pick out dresses and attend a play. “You are an original, darling,” she told Azrael. “Do you know how often I have been called to attend plays in the last hundred years?”

  “Probably not very often.”

  “Never, dear boy, never.”

  “Perhaps I should invite a theater troupe to the Shrouded Isle.”

  “Perhaps you should.”

  Jessica tried on half a dozen dresses to Lucy’s abundant commentary and finally settled on a strapless black and white gown. It laced up the back like a corset and showed off her breasts and waist to perfection. The dress flared in delicious, voluminous skirts lower down—the kind of dress that made her want to spin. It came with elbow-length white gloves and a velvet jacket. Lucy found a silver and sapphire necklace that brought out the blue of Jessica’s eyes.

  Shopkeepers tried to give them everything for free or at improbable discounts, but Azrael insisted on paying. “Lucy, stop it,” he muttered. “I didn’t come here to rob them.”

  “Darling, you’re not robbing anyone,” she purred. “Look at how many customers they have all at once. Everyone simply must have something in this store right now.”

  After the clothes, Lucy pointed out that Jessica should have her hair and makeup done professionally, so they spent half an hour in a salon. A skilled young woman piled Jessica’s hair on top of her head and then curled the ends in hot rollers.

  While they were waiting for this process to finish, Lucy said to Azrael, “Dare I ask where your boyfriend is?”

  “He’s not my boyfriend.”

  “Oh, good! Is he still Jessica’s boyfriend? If not, can we never speak of him again?”

  “He is still Jessica’s boyfriend.”

  “He’s being fitted for dashing inaugural ball attire,” said Jessica. “He looks like an extremely stylish pirate.”

  Lucy turned to Azrael with raised eyebrows. “Now you’re taking him?”

  “We had another faery attack,” said Azrael. “I think I might need him. Besides, there’s no reason to hide Mal if I’m taking him to my trial anyway.”

  Lucy sighed. “Tell me about the faeries.”

  Azrael did. He spoke so softly that Jessica, sitting a couple of chairs away from them with her hair in rollers, couldn’t hear most of it.

  Lucy considered. “Well, she’s certainly very persistent. What did you do this time to make her so angry?”

  Azrael licked his lips. “I might have put her in a spirit vessel. Very briefly.”

  Lucy covered her mouth with one bejeweled hand. “You put Mab in a spirit vessel?”

  “Only briefly.”

  “Is that all?”

  “Mal might have called her a meddling parasite while she was in our—very brief—possession.”

  “He shouldn’t have done that. She’s sensitive.”

  “I know.”

  “And vengeful.”

  “I know that, too. But she shouldn’t have tried to get onto my island. I set traps. She should know that.”

  “She hates being shut out of important places.”

  “Not my problem.”

  “If you allowed her to have an ambassador on the Shrouded Isle, she’d probably stop bothering you.”

  “No.”

  “Why?”

  “Because Mal is right. She is a meddling parasite.”

  Lucy sighed. “Well, then, be prepared to keep dealing with her.”

  Chapter 27

  Mal

  When they came back to pick Mal up for dinner, Lucy was with them. Mal hardly noticed her, however, because Jessica was wearing a gorgeous black and white dress. Her lips were ruby red, and her eyes glittered behind dark liner and mascara. Her hair was coiled on top of her head and spilling over in bronze-colored ringlets. Mal took her hand and spun her, the dress billowing and rippling. Azrael watched them critically, his eyes passing over Mal as though he were a fine horse. “We’ll need a red corsage for Jessica to go with Mal’s waistcoat.”

  Lucy crossed her arms. “One aspect of Lust wasn’t enough? You needed a matching set?”

  “Apparently.” Azrael still wasn’t meeting Mal’s eyes. That smile from earlier was gone. Mal deflated a little.

  They ate near the theater at the kind of restaurant where top hats and mink coats were not out of place. A man in a tuxedo was playing the piano softly in one corner of the room. It was just after sunset, and a waiter came by to light a candle on their table. The plates were delicate, the portions small and beautiful, and there wer
e many different kinds of silverware. Mal had attended formal dinners as a man, and he knew what he was supposed to do, but he found it tedious.

  He was sitting across from Azrael, with Jessica and Lucy to either side, and he watched as his master explained the process of anchoring a gate. Azrael’s hands moved as he talked, his long fingers drawing imaginary diagrams on the tablecloth.

  Is that all that happened this morning? We anchored a gate?

  Mal tried staring at Azrael’s face, but Azrael wasn’t looking at him. Because he’s avoiding me? Or because I’m not saying anything important? He tried to think of something relevant, but nothing about magic seemed remotely interesting right now.

  “Mal?”

  “Hmm?” He blinked and looked at Jessica.

  “Did you hear what I said?”

  “No. What?”

  She searched his face, her eyes limpid in the candlelight. “I said, this is particularly excellent rabbit.”

  “Yes,” said Mal automatically. “Excellent.” He liked rabbit usually, but right now, he didn’t care.

  When they left, it was dark outside and the fall air had a sharp, chilly bite. Mal was cozy inside his new coat. The well-lit streets were full of happy people and odors of good food. Jessica, Azrael, and Lucy were laughing and talking.

  This is a perfect evening, Mal told himself, but he still felt empty.

  After they purchased their tickets at the theater and went inside, Azrael murmured to Jessica, “We will have a more enjoyable experience if these two sit as far apart as possible.” He waved a finger between Lucy and Mal.

  Mal restrained himself from saying, “Don’t trouble yourselves on account of me; I’ll just meet you back at the cottage.” Maybe I do need to feed, he thought. Maybe I should have tumbled that stammering tailor in the back of his shop.

  The theater was only three-quarters full. The four of them wandered down an aisle in the low light to a row of seats. Mal went in first, assuming Jessica would follow. However, he heard a soft rustle behind him, like people trading places, and when he sat down, Azrael was beside him, Jessica next, and Lucy beside her.