“I’ve got you,” he whispered as I pooled my magic to push out the invader. “You’re okay. Just stay with me.”
There was no place I would rather be than with him. Still, the outside magic was threatening to take over.
“Hold on,” I gritted out as I pressed my eyes shut. “He left me with a parting gift.”
Worry clouded Galen’s eyes. “Do I even want to know what that means?”
“Probably not. I ... hold on.” The magic I was still getting a handle on listened as I commanded it to seek out the invader and destroy it. My blood rioted as the unseen forces collided. My magic was much stronger and eradicated the threat quickly. I was still breathless when I finished.
“That wasn’t so bad, huh?”
Galen’s gaze was dubious. “Speak for yourself. Don’t ever do that again, by the way.”
I was confused. “What? Save you? I’m allowed to save you as often as you’re allowed to save me. Those are the rules of feminism.”
He chuckled as he pulled me in for a hug. “Not that. You scared the life out of me. You were almost out the window this time. He managed to keep me away from you until the last second when you woke up. He was going to take you out of the room and there was nothing I could do about it.” He rested his cheek against my forehead. “We need to figure this out because he’s going to come back.”
He was right. I knew that deep down. “Did you recognize him? He’s a cupid, right?”
“I didn’t recognize him and he is most definitely not a cupid.”
I furrowed my brow and shifted so I could stare into his eyes. “If he’s not a cupid, what is he?”
“An incubus.”
I wasn’t sure that was an answer. “Is that a different sort of paranormal creature?”
“Yes.”
“Well, great. That’s exactly what we need.” I threw my hands up in frustration. “Why can’t things ever be simple?”
He snorted as he held me tight and rocked. “The most important thing is that we’re together and you’re safe. The rest of it ... well ... we’ll figure it out. I promise I won’t stop until we have all the answers and you’re safe.”
I believed him completely.
16
Sixteen
We stood like that for a long time before Galen pulled back to study my face.
“What happened with you? Why did you open the window?”
I frowned. “I didn’t open the window. I mean ... did I?” I was confused. “I don’t remember opening the window. He had me trapped in a castle room and was trying to ply me with Cinderella stuff.”
He cocked his head. “I ... don’t understand.”
“Welcome to the club. It was different from the other dreams. He kept me in a room and there was this weird dress ... and shoes ... and he whispered for me to find him.”
Galen calmly ordered my hair. “Did you want to find him?”
He asked the question calmly, but I knew what he was really worried about. “No, I most certainly did not. I told him Cinderella wasn’t the way to my heart, and then I tried to get out of the bedroom.”
His eyebrows drew together. “Did you say anything in the dream when you tried to unlock the door?”
“Does it matter?”
“It might. You were muttering when you unlocked the window.”
I understood what he was getting at. “Oh, um ... let me think.” I rubbed my forehead. A tension headache was brewing and I wanted nothing more than to lie down. I didn’t think that was a good idea, though. That’s how we got in this mess in the first place. “I think I was just complaining about being locked in.”
“Could you have said ‘I don’t like this’ before trying to get out? That’s what I thought I heard you say.”
“Probably.”
He cupped my face. “He didn’t hurt you in the dream, did he?”
His gaze was earnest, but I was fixated on the marks I found on his arm. I didn’t initially see them. “What happened here?” I gently grabbed his forearm and looked closer. He’d been cut ... by something extremely sharp. “How did this happen?”
“The incubus did it. That’s how I knew he was an incubus instead of a cupid. His hands shifted.”
“Huh. Does it hurt?”
He offered me a small smile. “You can kiss it and make it better if you want.”
He was joking but I did just that. “I’ll get some antiseptic.”
He protested, said it wasn’t necessary, that he would heal overnight, but I went anyway. My mind was muddled. Then, out of nowhere, I remembered something from weeks before. I had peroxide and bandages when I returned ... and a huge problem.
“Um ... I just remembered something.”
The window was shut and locked tight again, and he’d used a hair scrunchie to wrap the handles tight to add another layer of safety. It didn’t matter. I was certain sleep was out of reach for me.
“Please tell me it’s not your birth control.” He was going for levity but the joke fell flat.
“It’s not my birth control. I have an implant.” I held up my arm by way of proof, although he couldn’t see the implant, so it was completely unnecessary. “Do you remember the day right after I landed on the island when Ned Baxter took me out on his boat to kill me?”
“Do you really think I would forget that day?” His eyes darkened. “I only wish I would’ve killed him instead of letting Wesley have the honors.”
I preferred not thinking about that part so I herded him toward the bed instead. “There was a moment with Booker when I thought I saw his hand shift. It happened really fast and there was too much going on for me to focus on it, but ... if the incubus shifted and hurt you, does that mean Booker is an incubus, too? I don’t even know what an incubus is.”
“Come here.”
He tried to pull me onto his lap but I fought the effort. “I have to fix you. It’s important.”
He let loose a dramatic sigh but held out his arm. “This would be more fun if you were dressed in a skimpy nurse’s costume.”
“Maybe you’ll get your wish for Halloween ... although I’m thinking I want to be Wonder Woman this year.”
“Aren’t you Wonder Woman every day?”
He was charming when he wanted to be. “I’m being serious. I swear I saw something that day.”
“I’m sure you did.” He licked his lips and I got the distinct impression he was choosing his words carefully. “The thing is, cupids can shift. Not all of them. Heck, not even most of them. Only a rare few can do it. Booker is one of them. It runs in his family.”
Huh. You learn something new every day. “Why can he shift?”
“At one time all cupids could shift.”
“And they can’t now?”
“No. The lines got diluted. That’s why there are seven powerful families now. They had the most undiluted lines. They tried for years to breed out the weak lines but it was already too late.”
I didn’t feel as if I was catching up, merely falling further behind. “Galen, I need to understand. You can’t just tell me what you think I need to know. I want to hear all of it.”
He blew out a sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose. “I told Booker this was going to happen. He doesn’t want me to tell you. He thinks it will frighten you.”
“I don’t care. I need to know. This involves me as much as him now. There’s a strange man trying to entice me to jump from a two-story window.”
“Actually, I think he’s trying to do something else.” Galen looked grim. “I’ll get to that part. Will you do me a favor and get comfortable in bed for this? I think you need to relax.”
“That’s not going to happen.”
“The getting in bed part or the relaxing?”
“Both.”
“But ... I’m in pain and need to lie down.” He held up his bandaged arm and caused me to roll my eyes.
“Fine. I’ll lie down. But I refuse to sleep.”
He held up the covers so I could cr
awl underneath. He wisely left the lamp on the nightstand lit when he snuggled down with me. “If only there were something else we could do in a bed besides sleep,” he lamented.
“If you think I’m going to fall for that, you’re a crackhead. Spill.”
“Okay.” He tugged so I was pressed to his side and then stared at the ceiling, perhaps gathering his thoughts. “Cupids are old. They’re so old they date back to the early Greeks. We’re talking before Jesus Christ. They were something else then, though.”
“What?”
“Elementals.”
“I don’t know what that is.”
“To break it down to its barest form, elementals can control powers that derive from the elements. That would include earth elements, fire, water and air.”
“So ... they’re magical fire starters?”
He laughed despite the serious nature of the conversation. “They’re more than that. They were powerful beings. They were only supposed to breed with each other, but as you know, the heart can’t be contained that way. Over time, they started breeding with others ... including humans and other paranormals.
“Air elementals turned into our modern cupids today,” he continued. “They’re nowhere near as powerful as they used to be. In their natural form, they looked like magical hyenas. I guess that’s the best way to describe them.”
“Are you saying Booker is a hyena? I don’t think he’s going to like that.”
“I guarantee he’s not going to like that. It’s the truth, though. Elementals waged a war long before this continent was even conquered. They wiped out most of their own beings. After the war, the four contingencies broke apart and became separate entities.”
“So ... air elementals became cupids. What about the others?”
He shifted a bit, uncomfortable. “It doesn’t really matter for the purposes of this conversation.”
“Galen.” My voice was low and full of warning. “I mean it. I need to know.”
“Ugh.” He rubbed his forehead. Perhaps my incoming headache was catchy. “Water elementals became the merrow, or merfolk.”
Something clicked in my head. “Sirens are merfolk, right?”
“Yup.”
“So … Aurora.”
He didn’t confirm my suspicion. Of course, he didn’t need to. I already knew. “Fire elementals became demons.”
“Oh, geez.” I had already figured out where he was going. “And earth elementals?”
“They became witches.”
I wanted to crawl under the covers and never come out again. “So, you’re saying that these elementals were mortal enemies and now my closest friends on this island are supposedly my mortal enemies? Lilac is half-demon. Booker is a cupid. Aurora is a siren. That’s weird, right?”
“It’s not the same,” he soothed, brushing his hand over my hair. “You weren’t part of the wars. You’re descendants. You can be with whoever you want to be with, spend time with whoever you want to spend time with. There’s nothing guiding your life.”
That sounded convenient from his point of view. He wasn’t one of the warring factions. “I still don’t like it.”
“Do you suddenly hate Booker, Lilac and Aurora?”
“Of course not.”
“Then it doesn’t affect your life.” He was firm. “You have free will. That’s always the most important thing to remember.”
“Fine.” I threw up my hand, which he proceeded to catch and press a kiss to. The simple gesture made my heart stutter. “What about what I saw with Booker that day? The hand thing.”
“Like I said, he can shift. He doesn’t do it, almost never. I’ve only seen it once, and that was when he completely lost his cool. By the way, when I said he looked like a mutant hyena when he shifted, that’s true. That hyena also has wings.”
I bolted to a sitting position. “No way! He said he couldn’t fly.”
Galen chuckled. “I don’t know that he can.”
“He has wings.”
“Ostriches have wings and they can’t fly.”
I hated that he had a point. “Keep going. What does the incubus have to do with all this?”
“Incubi are fallen cupids.”
“Fallen? Like ... if they’re shunned from the cupid council they become an incubus?”
“No. If they use their powers for bad, they morph into an incubus. The cupid council watches new entries carefully. If a youngster can’t control his or her powers, well, they’re destroyed.”
“Destroyed?” I felt sick to my stomach. “That’s harsh.”
“Incubi and succubi are extremely dangerous. They can wipe out entire towns. That was more prevalent before television and the internet, but it’s still possible. An incubus is soulless. It preys on women. It kills ... with intimacy.”
It took me a moment to realize what he was saying. “Wait ... are you saying that an incubus has sex with his victim and that’s how she dies?”
“Pretty much. He sucks her soul through sex.”
“And I thought it was bad when orgasms were missing.”
He poked my side. “You better be talking about someone else.”
I smirked. “I was just joking. I ... don’t know what to think about any of this.”
“That makes two of us.” His hands moved to my back so he could rub. “Whenever an incubus lands here — it’s very rare — we take it out right away. I’m not sure how this one flew under the radar the way it did.”
I had an idea about that. “Maybe it’s passing as a cupid.”
“I don’t see how that’s possible. It shifted enough to attack me. Keeping that hidden can’t be easy.”
“Booker can keep it hidden. Although ... does the incubus shift like Booker shifts?”
He shook his head. “They’re different creatures. The incubus looks like a serpent with feathers.”
“Why couldn’t it just look like a bunny? I wouldn’t be afraid of a bunny. I’m terrified of serpents.”
He poked me again, a wide grin swallowing his handsome features. “Not all serpents.”
“Don’t be a pervert.” I wagged a finger in front of his face. “I’m trying to understand. This might be important if this thing comes after me again.”
“Oh, I definitely think it’s coming back. It wants you for a specific reason.”
“What reason?”
“Probably because he believes he can absorb your powers if he ingests your soul.”
I stilled, surprised. “Is that possible?”
“Anything is possible. Is it probable? I can’t say. You won’t be hanging around here tomorrow to find out.”
That was news to me. “Are you putting Booker on duty again?”
“No. He’ll melt down when he realizes I’ve told you all this. We agreed he would be the one to tell you should it ever become necessary.”
“Well, you didn’t have time to wait. It’s not your fault.”
“It’s not anybody’s fault,” he corrected. “It’s just an unfortunate circumstance. I’ll make sure he knows tomorrow. I’ll probably need him – and Aurora – when it comes time to start searching.”
“So, what? You want me to sit here alone all day tomorrow? That doesn’t sound like any fun at all.”
He kissed my pouty bottom lip. “I don’t really care if you have fun. I already told you, you can’t stay here.”
“Why not? This is my home.”
“And the incubus has linked you to this place. He’ll come back. Now that you’ve wounded him, he’ll want revenge. He’ll torture you in ways you can’t possibly imagine.”
I swallowed hard. “I’m strong,” I said finally. “I can fight him off.”
“You are strong. You’re my strong girl.” He hugged me tight. “But I need to find this thing. There’s no way for it to get off the island. We don’t have a ship leaving for several more days. No commercial planes are due. He’s stuck here until I can find him ... and then I’m going to rip his head off.”
“W
hile I do what? Do you think I’m just going to sit around and knit while you go all caveman?” If he believed that, he didn’t know me at all. “That’s not going to happen.”
“I don’t expect you to do nothing.”
“Good. At least we agree on something.”
“But you can’t be here tomorrow. I need to make sure you’re someplace safe until I start figuring this out. I can’t take off from work. There’s too much going on. That means you’re going to have to go to the safest place I can think of.”
“Disney World?”
“Wesley’s place.”
“No.” I immediately started whining, not caring in the least how I sounded. “I don’t want to go to Wesley’s house. I want to be part of this.”
“You will be, once I get more of the finer details in place.”
“I want to be part of it now.”
“No. You’re going to Wesley’s house.”
“I can take care of myself. I think I proved that tonight.”
For the first time since we’d started talking, Galen’s temper made an appearance. “The only reason you didn’t disappear out that window with him is because I was here. He can control you when you’re asleep.”
“Then I won’t sleep.”
“Oh, you’re going to stay awake for the rest of your life? That sounds healthy. You’re already half nutty. If you go without sleep, Booker will smother you to keep you from talking.”
“I want to be part of this.” I was adamant and refused to back down. “My life is on the line.”
“Don’t you understand that’s why I’m so frightened? I want you safe above all else. I can take a lot, but losing you … that just isn’t part of the equation. The incubus won’t be able to get near you at Wesley’s house. It’s just until I can figure things out.”
I folded my arms across my chest. “I’m not going.”
“You’re going.”
“I’m not.” I tried to roll away from him but he snagged me before I could. “You need to stay close to me. I don’t care how angry you are. If the incubus comes back, I need to know if you get up again.”
To Spell With It Page 15