Incubus of Bourbon Street

by Deanna Chase

  Then I felt it. The distinct energy signature of someone who wasn’t Kat. Only hers was there, too. Son of a…

  I shifted my focus to Pyper. Anger mixed with satisfaction hit me full force, but I bypassed those emotions and quickly zeroed in on her signature. Her sassy, confident energy barely pulsed within her, pushed out by something darker and more intense. There were again two signatures.

  My thoughts shifted back to Charlie and how she’d had feelings she didn’t recognize, that had felt foreign to her, and suddenly I knew what had happened.

  “Kane!” I spun and focused on him.

  He was staring hard at Genesis as she said something about how the club’s location was perfect for her needs. That since Kane’s energy had filled the area with powerful sex magic, she had found her ideal spot.

  “I know what’s going on,” I said slowly as I stalked toward Genesis.

  “Really?” She laughed. “I highly doubt that.”

  I glared at her. After a second, I fused my mental energy to Kat’s as if I was keeping her safe and then pushed with everything I had on the foreign soul that had invaded her body. Almost immediately I felt the invading soul release her.

  “What are you…? No!” The Goddess flew to Kat’s side and grabbed her, shaking her listless body. “How are you doing this?”

  The Goddess’s complexion turned ashen as small wrinkles formed around her eyes. Her body morphed from toned and perfectly shaped to slightly pudgy. She was aging right before our eyes.

  The magic that had been coating Kat evaporated and she sat up. Her eyes went wide as she took in the manacles holding her down. “Let me go!” She cried and flailed wildly. Then her gaze landed on me and she clamped her mouth shut as she glanced around.

  “I’m not leaving without you or Pyper,” I said to her. “Count on it.”

  Kane ran to her side and tested the chains. If he’d had his dagger, he could’ve freed her right then. But he didn’t. Instead, he grabbed hold of the chains and pulled. A loud creaking noise filled the space.

  “Don’t touch that!” Genesis flew toward Kane, but she was wobbly from the effort and before she got to him, I shot a bolt of magic at her. The Goddess’s body hovered in the air and twitched from the electric current running through her. Then she fell and crashed into the ground.

  “Get them free,” I called to Kane as I reached for Pyper’s emotional signature. Her infectious spirit was there just beneath the high-powered determination of the foreign spirit. I grabbed hold and tugged. But before I could separate Pyper from the other spirit, Genesis’s body vanished in a cloud of gray smoke and reappeared just above Kat. Her appearance was once again Zoe’s, only disheveled and at least a decade older.

  Ropes of slithering gray mist wound their way around Kat’s arms and legs and then wrapped around her neck.

  Kat coughed and sputtered, clawing at the mystical ropes.

  “Let the dark one go,” Genesis ordered. “Or this one dies.”

  Without even a second thought, I unleashed my magic at the Goddess.

  “Dammit!” I scowled as my limbs grew instantly heavy. Instead of my attack taking her down, she sucked the stream of power in, growing stronger with each blast that hit her. She was literally filling up on my magic. No, my soul.

  “Jade!” Kane jumped in front of me and my magic, his body going rigid upon impact.

  “Kane!” I leaped forward and placed my trembling hands on his still body.

  “He’s mine now, white witch.” The Goddess snarled and kicked me out of the way. She whirled and with one hand clutching Kane’s wrist and the other on one of Pyper’s chains, the three of them disappeared.

  The room shifted again, leaving me and Kat in the sparse apartment. She was lying sprawled on the floor. I scrambled to her side and when I touched her, a silver shadow in the form of a young woman rose from her body and vanished into thin air. Just as it had done with Charlie back at the coven circle.

  “Oh my God. Kat?” A sob got caught in my throat as I stared down at her through my thickening tears.

  “Jade?”

  “You’re okay. You’re okay,” I said over and over again, trying to reassure both of us.

  She blinked up at me, confusion swimming in her hazel eyes. “Is she gone?”

  “Yes,” I choked out, trying my best to hold it together. To not think about Kane being gone. Even though we’d dreamwalked Kat and Pyper, somehow I knew dealing with the Goddess had changed the rules. We were no longer in a dream. Kat and I were wide awake in the apartment above Wicked. “The Goddess is gone.”

  “Goddess?”

  “Yeah. The one who kidnapped you.” Maybe she didn’t know who Genesis was.

  Kat slowly shook her head. “No. She didn’t take me. The lost soul did.”

  “Lost soul?” What was she talking about?

  “The one that escaped Hell.”

  Chapter 16

  “Come on.” I helped Kat to her feet. “We need to get you home.” I wasn’t sure if she was giving me important information or if she was just confused after her ordeal.

  She glanced around, her brows pinched. “What am I doing here?”

  I was torn, half of me desperate to look for Kane and Pyper while the other half knew I had to get Kat somewhere safe. If Genesis showed back up, it would be too easy for her to grab Kat in her weakened state.

  “Jade?” Kat clutched at my arm.

  I wrapped my arms around her and hugged her hard. “I’m so glad you’re okay.”

  She hugged me back, her body trembling.

  “You’re safe now. I’ll take care of you.”

  She nodded and let me guide her out of the apartment. We walked in silence down the stairs. But instead of leaving through the side door, I ran into the club just to make sure neither Kane nor Pyper were there.

  They weren’t. My heart dropped and tears stung my eyes.

  “Jade?” Kat said again. “Tell me what’s going on.” Her voice was stronger now.

  I glanced at her and saw the conviction in her expression. “Let’s go outside.” Kane’s incubus energy was crawling all over me, and I couldn’t focus on anything else. The familiarity made me want to stay in the club, searching even though I knew he wasn’t there. Only his energy was, just as it had been the last few days.

  She followed me and the minute we stepped out into the humid night air, she clutched my arm again. “I need to know what happened.”

  “I’m not entirely sure,” I hedged.

  Exasperation streamed off her in waves.

  “I’m serious.” I glanced at her to let her see my sincere expression. “You said a lost soul took you, but I don’t know anything about that. All I know is a lesser Goddess had you trapped in another dimension as she used you to feed her power. She had Charlie as well, but she’s safe at my house now.”

  Kat was silent for a moment. “And Pyper? This lesser Goddess has her, too, doesn’t she?”

  “Yes.” The word came out strained. “And now Kane, as well.”

  A small gasp slipped from her lips. “We need to find them!”

  Sadness weighed on me, and I blinked back tears. “Right now, I need to get you somewhere out of harm’s way. Then I’ll go back for them.” I quickened my pace and rounded the corner to the home I shared with Kane. Hope sprung forth, almost overwhelming me. Was he there? We’d been dreamwalking. I’d been kicked out of the dream, along with Kat. But he was the dreamwalker. He could still be in our bed.

  “Hurry,” I said to Kat as I broke out into a run. He had to be there.

  We burst through the front door, startling Charlie. She jumped out of the oversized chair, her fists raised.

  “Charlie,” I called, running past her. “Is Kane here?” I didn’t stop to wait for an answer. I rounded the corner into the hall and pulled the door open to our bedroom.

  “No,” Charlie said from behind me as my eyes focused on the empty bed.

  “Fuck!” I spun and rushed to the phone. I knew
it was a long shot. Hadn’t really expected him to be there, but that damn hope had taken up residence in my heart.

  I grabbed the phone and hit Lucien’s name as I watched Charlie and Kat hang on to each other in a tight hug.

  “Jade?” Lucien said when he answered. “What’s happened?”

  “Kat is here. You need to come now.”

  There was a rustling on the other end of the line, followed by the slam of a door. “Kat’s with you? Is she okay? What happened?”

  I sat at the kitchen table and held my forehead with one hand as I relayed the night’s events.

  “But Kat’s okay?” he asked again when I finished.

  “Yes. She appears to be all right. Hold on.” I held the phone out to Kat. “It’s Lucien.”

  She grabbed the phone and hurried into the other room, while Charlie sat beside me.

  “I can’t believe this is happening,” she said.

  I met her defeated gaze then averted my eyes. “I’ll get them back.” My tone was strong, full of conviction, my words a declaration. “You can count on it.”

  The door burst open, and I heard Kat let out a gasp, followed by Lucien’s voice. “Thank the Gods you’re all right.”

  “Stay here with Lucien,” I told Charlie. “I’m going to get Pyper and Kane.”

  “But Jade—”

  I held up a hand, determination swirling inside me. “I can’t do this right now.”

  She gave me a small nod and slumped back in her chair.

  On my way to the living room, I grabbed a bag of herbs from the pantry. I didn’t have time to make any special potions, but the basics would be better than nothing.

  “Jade?” Lucien said over Kat’s shoulder as I hurried into the living room.

  “Lucien.” I gave him a nod and kept going.

  “Hold on. I have information.”

  “It’ll have to wait. I have to find Kane and Pyper.” Clutching the door handle, I closed my eyes as a wave of emotion threatened to overwhelm me.

  “It’s about the Goddess. I found her in one of my research manuals.”

  When I opened my eyes, he’d let go of Kat and was standing right in front of me.

  “You want this information for when we battle her.” His eyes were focused, business-like.

  “When I battle her,” I said. “You’re staying here to keep them safe.”

  His already anxious energy bristled against my skin. “You can’t go alone.”

  “And you can’t go with me. I’m going into the shadows. I couldn’t take you even if I wanted to.”

  “Shit.” He grabbed a book from the entryway stand that hadn’t been there before. “You need to see this before you go.” He flipped the book open to a marked section. “This is a book on the history of Gods and Goddesses. Remember when I said I studied them? Well, I found Genesis.” He held the book out to me. And as I took it, he continued. “It says in there that as a young Goddess, Genesis was known to be extremely vain. For her, youth and beauty was everything, especially since she was in the shadow of her much-revered sister the Goddess of Spirit. When Genesis turned twenty-five, she sought out a powerful demon. One who was known to be a favorite of the devil himself. He told her he had the power to give her eternal youth, but there was a price.”

  “Of course there was,” I said dryly.

  “Yeah, that price was souls. He granted her the power to stay young, but it only lasted one hundred years. The payment for each one hundred years after that was three souls and an angel. The spirit of her victims would keep her young for another one hundred years, but she had to deliver the souls and the angel to the demon as payment.”

  Three souls and one angel. She’d had the three souls. Four actually, if we included Zoe. Did she have the angel as well? The one who had gone missing? I glanced at the passage Lucien had pointed out and noticed a note in the margin. Happens every year on the summer solstice.

  “That’s in two days,” I said.

  He nodded. “That’s when the sacrifice is made.”

  “So she’s been collecting her offering? Kat, Pyper, and Charlie?”

  “Yes. And she’s been using enslaved souls to control them.” He clenched his teeth together in irritation. “It’s why Kat was so obsessed about the acting. That wasn’t her. It was another soul.”

  I glanced at Kat. She’d said a soul had taken her. Genesis had soul minions doing her dirty work. I’d seen it leave after Kat had been released from Genesis’s clutches. Just like I had with Charlie.

  Whoa. That was why Charlie had wanted to date a man. It wasn’t her. It was some other soul.

  “This case just took a left turn,” I said. “That all makes sense with what we’ve seen so far, but what does Kane have to do with any of it? And do you think the tainted power in the shadows is related?

  Lucien shrugged and took the book from me. “I don’t know the answer to either question. Maybe Genesis wants him instead. Because he’s an incubus, his spirit is a lot more enticing, I’m sure.”

  “Ugh.” I swallowed the bile trying to rise up in the back of my throat. “I have to go. I can’t stay here waiting.” I yanked the door open.

  “Are you headed back to the club?” Lucien asked.

  “Yes. It’s the center of everything.”

  “I want to come with you.”

  “No!” I spun, frantic. “You have to watch over Kat and Charlie. With you here, they’ll be safe. I can’t be worrying about them, too.”

  Resignation settled over his features as he took a step back toward Kat. With his hand snaking around her waist, he said, “I’m calling the rest of the coven. They need to know what’s happening.”

  “Yeah.” I sucked in a breath, trying to calm myself. “It’s better they know.” And without waiting for an answer, I bolted out of the door. The club was only a few blocks, but I ran the entire way there and when I stopped in front of the entrance, I was winded.

  “Get it together, Jade,” I told myself.

  I reached for the door handle and hesitated, only then realizing I hadn’t thought to bring the keys. “Damn.” My palm warmed with magic and, focusing on the lock, I heard a small click. Then I ran my hand along the upper section of the door until the unmistakable thunk of a dead bolt turning filled my senses.

  Being a witch came in handy sometimes, even if it did sort of turn me into a criminal. Kane owned the building, so technically I wasn’t breaking and entering, but if anyone was watching it would look like I was.

  The door swung open and with a surge of determination, I entered the building. It was exactly as I’d left it only a half hour before: empty, full of Kane’s incubus signature, and tainted with something evil.

  I stood just off to the right of the stage and took a step into the shadows. The energy hit me hard, nearly knocking me off my feet. And this time, even though it still felt faintly like Kane’s energy, it was much more sinister. Unease crawled up my spine as I felt the fabric of the dimension pulse with fear and despair. The desire to curl into a ball just as Charlie had earlier nearly did me in.

  But Kane’s face flashed in my mind, and a ripple of strength materialized from deep inside me. I would not let the Goddess keep Kane or Pyper. Wherever they were. I knew it was too easy to think I could enter the shadows and they’d be right here waiting. Genesis could be holding them anywhere.

  I had to find her, then I’d find them.

  The only thing I knew to do was to search for their energy. Except the only emotions I felt were hopelessness and desire, coming from beyond the shadows. There was no way I was going to be able to connect with either Kane’s or Pyper’s energy signatures. I had to try something else.

  Frantic to be out of the shadows of doom, I rummaged through my bag of herbs and came up with dandelion leaf. It was worth a shot. Dandelion was used as a summoning agent for spirits. I could call on those of the shadows for help to find Kane and Pyper.

  I hastily formed a circle with the crushed dandelion leaves and stepped into
the middle, reaching for my power. Electric magic shot through me and not only did the circle light up, but so did I. Light shimmered over my skin.

  Whoa. That wasn’t the plan. Immediately a handful of spirits appeared, hovering around my circle. Two were so old and decayed, I could barely make out the shape of their half-formed faces. Another bounced back and forth, appearing to be mesmerized by the light. But the fourth stood tall, regarding me with interest. Her eyes were wrinkled with age and shone with wisdom. She’d passed on later in life, most likely from natural causes, judging by the shimmering cloud of peace clinging to her.

  “Hello,” I said.

  “It’s not safe in the shadows,” she said, her tone wispy as it faded into the night.

  “That’s why I’m here. I need your help.”

  She shook her head. “This is not your place. It’s nobody’s place now.” Her gaze shifted from me to a dark space just beyond my circle. “The longer she’s here, the further his wrath reaches.”

  “Who? The Goddess? I’m here to defeat her.”

  The spirit floated to me, her eyes full of pity. “No one defeats the wicked.”

  “I do,” I said with conviction. “She has my loved ones and I won’t leave until they’re found.”

  She froze. Then her eyes turned wild. “He’s coming.”

  “Who?” I asked, quickly scanning the area. I saw nothing but the club in a crumbling form.

  Her body started to fade and right before she disappeared, she whispered, “The evil one.”

  Chapter 17

  “Don’t listen to her,” a masculine voice said from behind me.

  I spun, expecting to see the evil one himself. Except he didn’t feel evil and he certainly didn’t look it. The spirit was a young man who wore board shorts, a T-shirt, flip-flops, and had some sort of metal leaf pendant dangling from a cord around his neck. “The evil one isn’t coming?”

  He shrugged. “It’s possible, but she’s been saying that for days. It hasn’t happened yet.”