Incubus Freedom

by Emma Jaye

  Neither of his visitors showed a tell-tale glow of desire. Fuck, I must look more pathetic than I feel. Still, it was a relief that he wouldn’t have to service anyone in the near future, even if he needed the energy. Hunger already tickled the corner of his consciousness.

  He could try to seduce someone later; Avery must have some feeders around. Hopefully they wouldn’t be human. Could a human be addicted to more than one sex demon? What happened if those demons went in different directions? He pictured the poor bastards being reduced to frantic wrecks as they were mentally torn by the impulse to be with both demons. He wouldn’t do that to anyone.

  Ezra eyed the distance to the window as the man stepped further into the room. Even though he felt weak as a kitten, he wouldn’t give up so near to achieving his goal of being outside.

  “Don’t worry, I’m an Atlas bear shifter, not a vampire. Name’s Jericho.”

  It would take more than the promise of a stranger for him to give anyone his trust. If his own mother could betray him, sell him into slavery, anyone could. It appeared as if the only other relative he knew about had done the same thing. He’d thought blood demons were bad, but it appeared his own species were even more ruthless.

  The big man, who did look like a bear now Ezra thought about it, sighed. “Look, I understand you don’t believe us. But we can’t let you wander about on your own. This place is vast and things have changed a lot in the last century, not to mention the last few weeks.”

  Ezra didn’t miss the warning look Pixie gave the shifter. There was more going on here than they were saying. Nobody had ever tried to spare his feelings before. Whatever it was must be bloody awful.

  “If you want outside now, you’re going to have me with you. I’m not going to disobey Pixie’s instructions because she’s damn scary when she’s cross. So, outside with me or stay in here; your choice.”

  The shifter stared at him with his caterpillar-like eyebrows raised. He’d hardly been able to see the man’s mouth move through all that hair. Ezra had never met a shifter, but there was a subtle difference to the way this man moved, that made Ezra think he told the truth, about his species anyway.

  Their stories didn’t make sense. The brands and an incubus, a lesser demon, in charge of the supernatural council? Pull the other one it’s got bells on. Asking questions would just get him more lies. Acting dumb, and keeping his eyes and ears open, would reveal far more. The possibility that this was another elaborate ruse by Fabian to get him to react didn’t pass him by. The vampire had probably recruited these two to fool him like he did that avarice demon. He pictured Fabian waiting in the shadows, anticipating him trying to escape as he had the first night in Scotland.

  Even if they were telling the truth about Fabian no longer being a threat, and Ezra was fully fit, he doubted he could outrun a shifter in his animal form. But as prisons went, he’d take this over the cellar.

  “How long?”

  Pixie answered. “You’ve been here three days. We’ve been trying to get your memory back, but it hasn’t worked. So, we’ve decided to do it the old- fashioned way, let it come back naturally. The year is 2018.”

  The fiction that more than a century he didn’t remember had gone by didn’t warrant attention.

  “How long was I with... them.”

  Jericho glanced at Pixie, his eyebrows raised. “Well, do you tell him, or shall I? We agree to answer any questions, just not volunteer information. Which you’ve already done.”

  “He would have worked out something was up sooner rather than later. Does this look like a mid-Victorian room to you? Are you old enough to remember that?”

  Jericho scowled at her. “I’m a shifter, not a bloody demon or a fae, but yeah I remember, just. I’m a few years younger than Ezra.”

  Ezra filed away the information that shifters didn’t last as long as other supernaturals, but they lived longer than humans. Could shifters become addicted to sex demons? What did their energy taste like?

  “We’ll tell you if you want,” Pixie said, giving him sad eyes, “but it might be better if you concentrate on getting stronger first. This is a wonderful place, dwelling on what happened isn’t going to help your recovery.”

  A small smile twitched his lips as he looked at her. Recovery, who is she kidding? There’s no way someone recovers from that. Is telling me I’m ‘happy’ in the future part of their strategy?

  “I’m tougher than I look, just tell me.”

  “Nine years, the vampires had you for nine years. Silas did what you asked, your heart stopped, but Arioch, the vengeance demon who is actually Silas’s–” Jericho trailed off as the fae glared at him.

  Ezra tried to wrap his head around the fact that he’d succeeded, that he’d been dead, and some meddling demon had brought him back. It would have been so much easier if they’d left him.

  “What? Too much information?” Jericho huffed and turned back to Ezra. “Do you need help getting dressed?”

  Ezra’s breathing rate increased as the large man held up an undershirt like the one he was wearing and a pair of tight canvas trousers. The clothes would certainly show off his assets.

  “Ah ah, none of that. You can’t feed from me,” Jericho blurted.

  Ezra cocked his head, examining the shifter. Not a hint of lust. “Well, I can’t right now. Give me a bit of time though and I–”

  “Ezra, stop it. He’s not your lunch and neither am I. We can’t be; we don’t work that way.”

  Some of the humans the vampires put in the cellar had been reluctant too. He’d got all but one of them in the end. Pulling off the covers, he was surprised to see his skin was darker than he remembered, and he had no visible scars. The cellar had left him so pale his family’s Mediterranean roots were hard to see, and he’d always been criss-crossed with scars in various stages of healing.

  The first real proof that he hadn’t left the cellar a few hours ago unsettled him. Then he saw the drawers he was wearing, if you could call them that. They were made of the same stretchy material as the shirt Jericho presented, but instead of being dark blue, they were black. There was no way they would contain him if he encountered an aroused person. The only advantage he could see was that they hugged his body like a second skin. He bet his arse looked fantastic in these. If the brands didn’t put someone off.

  But if a century had passed, and he was free, why had he been branded again? By the soreness, the wounds were in exactly the same places as always and felt fresh. He looked down at the white oblong on his chest.

  Will I find an F, an A or something else underneath?

  Even though the wounds smarted at the movement, he sat up. The bed was high, but he felt at a disadvantage lying down when they were both standing. He needed to know, needed more proof.

  Jericho and Pixie both shouted ‘no’ as he ripped the white, spongy oblong off his chest. He thought it would hurt, it did, but not as much as having it put there.

  The raw, inflamed ‘F’ didn’t look any different.

  “Ezra, what the hell are you doing? You’ve made it bleed again.”

  Sparks were almost shooting from Pixie’s eyes. “Now I’m going to have to find someone to redress it.”

  “Why?” Ezra replied, his mind grasping the idea that although the location and faces had changed, he was still Fabian’s prisoner and his captors were still lying to him.

  Why are they fucking with my memory and being all nice? The vampires had done it a few times, when one of them had been particularly brutal, but taking him back over a century? Some pretty fucked up shit must have happened. He didn’t want to think about it. At least this cage had a better view.

  “So it doesn’t get infected, you idiot.”

  “It never got infected the other times it was done.”

  She folded her arms. “It’ll stick to your clothes.”

  He glared right back, enjoying the battle of wills with someone who didn’t frighten the shit out of him and whom he clearly didn’t scare either. H
e wondered if she was a slave too.

  Having a keeper he couldn’t feed from was perhaps a better option for both him and the vampires.

  “I won’t wear any then. Didn’t seem to bother anyone before.”

  Her brows nearly met in the centre of her forehead as she ground out, “Fabian doesn’t have any right to you anymore. He never did.”

  Ezra indicated his chest which was leaking blood streaked clear fluid from the disrupted wound. “Want to try that lie again?”

  “Anyone ever told you that you are a stubborn bastard?” the shifter said.

  Ezra turned to look at Jericho. “Never. I don’t lie either. Can I go outside now, or are you going to chain me to the bed? Because that’s the only thing that’s going to stop me.”

  The bear shifter turned his brown eyes on Pixie. “I doubt he can get up to much mischief in his underwear with me riding shotgun.”

  Pixie snorted. “That’s when he’s most dangerous, you should know that by now. Humans tend to fall over their tongues when he walks in a room even fully clothed.”

  Alarm bells rang. “No humans,” he said quickly.

  “We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it,” Pixie said firmly. “Now I thought you wanted to go outside?”

  “I do.”

  “Well, get dressed then.” She indicated the clothes Jericho had put on the end of the bed.

  With a frown, he picked up the tight blue canvas trousers, and put them down again.

  “No way am I wearing those.”

  Pixie blew out a breath, making a strand of pink hair hanging over her face move.

  “They’re yours. You chose them, you paid for them.”

  Ezra eyed the garment again. “I doubt that. What if someone gets horny? Those will strangle my dick.”

  “You can’t go strutting around showing off your wares,” Pixie stated hand on hip.

  “Why not? I’ve got to feed, and it’s never bothered anyone before. It’s not cold and besides, keeping the wounds uncovered will help them heal,” he shot back and reached for the bandage on the back of his shoulder.

  “Don’t you dare,” Pixie’s eyes shot sparks.

  “He’s right.” Jericho shrugged. “It’s always best to leave a wound open to the air unless there’s a chance it’ll get dirty or rub on clothes. And plenty of people walk around without a lot on here. I’ve seen them swimming topless.”

  Swimming in a warm ocean had been a major fantasy for years. He’d never done any more than paddle on Brighton beach, thanks to overprotective servants.

  Pixie ignored Jericho. “You want people to see the brand?”

  Ezra didn’t understand the pain in her eyes. “I can’t avoid that unless I want to starve to death. Besides, he likes to see them.”

  “Who?”

  The person who put them there? F–” His throat felt tight and he rubbed at it without completing Fabian’s name.

  “Fabian’s in prison, Ezra,” Pixie said gently. “He was convicted for what he did to you, your father, others of your kind, plus countless humans. You can’t say his name because he put a heavy compulsion on you a few days ago. We hope it’ll fade in time.”

  His mind stalled, not hearing anything after ‘prison’. “I’m free, I’m really free?”

  “Yes, you really are,” the female voice coming from the door way had both Jericho and Pixie stepping in front of him.

  “It failed again. We agreed this was the last time, so we don’t need you anymore,” Pixie said as a growl rumbled up from Jericho’s chest.

  Between the two of them, Ezra caught a glimpse of an inoffensive looking woman in her fifties with short blond hair. Her clothing was as odd as that of Pixie and Jericho. It appeared displaying female legs wasn’t a problem in this time; her skirt barely reached her knees.

  “Looks and sounds fine to me. Are you hungry, incubus?”

  The glow of lust was faint, but it was there. Suspicion itched. She looked human, but she didn’t behave like one. Plus, he could almost see Jericho’s hackles rising. He didn’t look like the kind of man to be easily frightened.

  “What are you?” Ezra asked the blonde.

  A small smile appeared on her face. “So many people underestimate your intelligence. Even your friends don’t think you can cope with the truth; they want to coddle you, protect you from reality. I have more faith in you, Ezra Erotes.”

  Pixie took a step toward the woman. “You agreed, just like the rest of us. Do I need to call Avery?”

  A thin blonde eyebrow rose. “He can’t feed Ezra, I can. And I really want–”

  “Leave,” Jericho rumbled.

  “My name’s Shanae and I’m a witch. I’m here with the rest of my coven. Don’t worry, we don’t want to be addicted to you any more than you want to addict us. We’ve set up a little spell, so each time one of us sleeps with a specific sex demon a little mark appears on–”

  Pixie pushed the larger woman bodily out of the door and shut it in her face.

  Ezra had to resist the urge to flinch when she turned back to him.

  “Get ready to go out, shorts and a shirt, no jeans if it’s that important to you. I’ll make sure the vicinity is clear of... distractions,” she ordered, a slight grimace of disgust on her face.

  He didn’t know whether he or the woman had caused the fae’s disapproval, but she certainly didn’t feel comfortable with his feeding needs. That made two of them.

  CHAPTER 3

  Finn lay back on the sand, eyes closed, revelling in the warmth of the sun, the sound of gentle waves and Ezra’s arms around him.

  “Finn, time to wake up.”

  He frowned. That’s Pixie, not Ezra. Panic hit, he couldn’t feel Ezra, not his body, not his emotions.

  He jerked awake, heart pounding, eyes searching. Pixie put her hand on his arm.

  “Take it easy; he’s just over there. It’s all over.”

  His eyes shot in the indicated direction. Ezra lay peacefully in a bed a few feet away. A drip with what looked like standard saline snaked down to his inner elbow.

  “Do you know who I am?”

  Finn blinked at her. “Of course I know who you are. What’s going on?”

  “The witches have tried, several times, but he seems to have lost every memory since he left Fabian’s cellar. We’ve taken him back to that moment twice, and him waking up hasn’t gone... well.”

  “Is he,” Finn swallowed, his mouth dry, “is he alright?”

  “Physically, apart from the brands, yes.”

  Finn kept his eyes on the demon who had claimed him, mind, body and soul. Pixie explained what had happened since Finn had been awake. And that they thought Ezra’s own mind had caused the brands to reappear; because they protected him from being further attacked.

  “They branded him?” he said, not believing his ears as he watched the unconscious figure.

  “In three places. Every time they healed they–” She shook her head. “And that’s not important right now. What is, is that we hope you can help him via the link, to recover faster than he did the first time.”

  There were bags under her eyes. As far as he remembered, he’d never seen her sleep when they’d both been students, but now she looked exhausted.

  “Thing is, he might have a problem with you. I shared his memories, what he went through...” She sniffed and cleared her throat. Finn knew it had been bad from Ezra’s attitude to reliving his memories, but for Pixie to react like this...

  “Right now,” she swallowed, “he thinks addicting humans dooms them. His mother sold her group of addicted humans to the vampires as a part payment for his conception. Then the vampires fooled him into addicting a small group, and he thought he killed them to stop–”

  Finn’s mind stalled, he couldn’t believe what had been done to Ezra, the physical and mental torture he’d been through.

  “Are you still with me, Finn?”

  He nodded, unable to speak.

  She gave him a tight smile as she cont
inued. “Bottom line is, as far as he’s concerned, he wanted to die, with good reason, and now he’s alive. That’s going to take a little time to get his head around.

  “We’ve decided to give him time to see if his memories come back on their own, but he’s a tricky bugger. He made a grab for a scalpel after seeming ‘fine’ for half an hour; he tried to stick it in his own neck.” She shook her head. I don’t know what we would have done if Jericho hadn’t been with him. For a big guy, he’s quick.”

  Finn swallowed. “He tried to kill himself?”

  Pixie pushed her hair off her face, her lips pressed in a thin line. “He tried to finish what he started in Fabian’s cellar. He’s nothing but determined. I’m not sure he believes the vampires aren’t still playing a trick on him.”

  She gave him a too hearty smile. “But you, you are our secret weapon, the bond will reveal how he’s really feeling when he’s putting on his ‘happy act’. But you need to stay away from him physically, just for a while. He doesn’t need the responsibility of being bonded to the last vascellum right now. Plus, he did try, and succeeded in his own mind, to kill humans he thought he’d addicted. Just at the moment, he could be dangerous to you, understand?”

  Finn didn’t. Even though he could see Ezra just a few feet away, not touching him was torture. Tears prickled his eyes.

  “I... I need...” His hand shook with the effort of not flinging back the sheet.

  Pixie rubbed his arm and gave him another thin-lipped smile. “I know you do, sweetie, I know. But the sooner he’s back to being the Ezra who drives us all up the wall, the better, and for that to happen, we can’t throw too much at him at once.

  “He was... standoffish when I met him, and that was fifty years after this happened. It took a while for him to trust me, but he did. And he bonded you, on purpose, only days after he met you. He can get back to that. You have to believe it.”

  “He’ll need to feed, to get better, I can–,” Finn blurted, grabbing at straws.