by Sariah Skye
“He needs something to drink. Can you go stealth mode with him into the club, and sit him down? We’ll pay our way in and get him some sustenance,” Bash inquired.
“Stealth? Both of us?” I asked in disbelief, adjusting myself under Mathias’ massive form.
“Yes. Remember when you stealthed yourself and Sierra? Same principle.” Xander had somehow gotten the bouncer to open the hidden door, flashing him a thumb’s-up. “Just picture yourself walking through without incident.”
I swallowed nervously, but nodded. Mathias was still limp, his cheek smashed against my updo. Normally I’d be worried about what Summer would say about her ruined ‘do, but right now I was more concerned about the drained gladiator, using me as a crutch. I turned underneath Mathias’ arms, and wound my arms around his neck, lifting his drooped chin with my fingers. “Mathias? We’re going to get you to sit down, okay? But I need you to walk. Can you do that?”
Mathias’ handsome face was pale, and exhausted; his eyes dim with fatigue. His eyes met mine, and he said nothing, but nodded.
“Okay. You can lean against me if you need to, but you need to walk.”
“’Kay…” Mathias weakly stood, both arms wrapped around my shoulders for support. I kept mine wound around his upper waist. The bouncer, still looking bewildered but was breathing more normally stood next to the open door. He stared at us momentarily, confused.
Bash offered a quick wave before he and the rest of them started for the front of the building.
You can’t see us… My skin tingled and I saw a shimmer of energy escape my body and envelop both of us. The bouncer raised a brow at where we were standing, and looked away. I took a deep breath and started walking, biting my lip nervously so hard I drew blood, as I walked Mathias passed the bouncer. He didn’t even flinch as we passed through the entrance. My senses were met with muffled music from the dance floor, and the musty smell of wood and mildew as we entered some sort of empty hallway. A chair next to an old pay phone sat a few paces away, and I quickly moved Mathias’ to it, insisting that he sit when we arrived.
I let my shield drop—for all I know it already had—but there was no one around to see it. Which was so strange; how could this part of the building be so empty?
“Your friends will be here soon,” I said soothingly, as Mathias climbed back into the chair and sat with a plop. He slumped listlessly, head rolling on his neck before it rested against his shoulder.
“Mathias? Are you okay? What happened?” I asked him softly. I felt a sense of unease seeing the strong, former-gladiator in such a state of anguish. I was drawn to him, somehow…I felt an undeniable pull. I just wanted him to feel better. I snaked hands up his chest, and cupped his chin in my palms, craning his face upward.
Heavy-lidded, though not with desire so much as exhaustion, he peered at me. “I’m…sorry.”
“What can I do?” I traced a gentle line over his cheek to gently push aside his dark hair as it hung in his eyes; the disheveled look was disconcerting on the badass, composed warrior.
“Kiss me.” He said it so softly, I wasn’t even sure he had spoken, or if it was the wistful thought in my mind.
“What?” I asked, uncertain.
“Kiss. Me. If you are what you are, it will help,” he said, his voice weak.
“But…” I protested, but the pleading look on his face was enough. I suddenly was overcome with the desire to be close to him, wrapped in his arms, my lips pressed against his.
I inched towards him slowly, nervously at first. As my lips brushed against his, Mathias pushed forward, his lips actively parting, seeking my own.
The intensity of our proximity was all-encompassing; like a shot of potent alcohol; my flesh warmed, the intense heat stoking low in my stomach, as I crashed my mouth against his.
My eyes shut involuntarily, and fireworks exploded in the darkness behind my eyelids. Mathias let out the quietest of moans, as he sighed, wrapping his arms around my lower body. He parted his legs, pulling me as close to his body as we could get—clothed. The noise nearly undid me as I urgently—and very unexpectedly—and desperately desired to be closer to him. Our mouths worked in sync, tongues hungrily thrashing against each other’s. My fingers traced the outline of his distinct bicep under his soft shirt. I groaned helplessly, needing to feel his bare skin under my fingers. I absentmindedly searched for the buttons of his shirt, needing to unfasten them quickly. His heart beat rapidly in time with mine. “Mathias…” I whispered into his open mouth greedily.
A pair of hands clutched mine firmly. Mathias abruptly pulled away; eyes hooded with desire; his swollen lips set in a firm line.
I whimpered helplessly. “Why…?” was all I could say, my body suddenly betrayed by the absence of his lips.
Mathias clenched his eyes shut, and breathed in deeply before exhaling. I sought his lips once more, but he put a lone finger against them. “Stop, please.”
I grinned. My mind heard ‘no’ but my body was charged; I wasn’t having it. I pushed myself ever closer to Mathias and bit gently at his fingertip, letting my eyes do all the talking. “No…” was all I said huskily.
He inhaled deeply again, closing his eyes. “Ava, in about a minute I will not be able to stop for anything. Please be aware of what you’re saying.”
“I am,” I said, leaning forward, nuzzling my nose against the bare flesh of his chest.
He moaned lightly. “Ava…” It was a great struggle, seemingly, but he successfully pulled away. He slid out of the chair to his feet, grasped my waist with his hands and spun me around. I giggled, as he effortlessly raised me into the chair. “Oooh!”
Mathias sighed. He rested his forehead against mine. “This is not the time, or place. The guys will be here soon.”
A sobering thought. My heart began to slow, and my breath eased. I looked over him. The color returned to his cheeks, and he no longer appeared weak.
“What happened?” I asked, feeling confused, as if I’d just awoken from a midday nap. Slightly hazed from arousal but not altogether uncomfortable. I just wanted more.
“You rejuvenated me with your kiss, Ava. I…lost it over there. I’m sorry you saw that.” He hung his head in shame. “Since the curse though, I’m not as strong as I was. If I were, that man would not be standing right now. He’d be ripped in half.”
I winced, dumbfounded. “What did I do? How? And—that wasn’t as strong? What the fuck, Mathias! You went all The Incredible Hulk there!”
He gripped my shoulders gently, the skin-to-skin contact once again rejuvenating the fire that stoked earlier. “When an incubus is with a woman, he drains her energy. He feels rejuvenated, with an abundance of power. If that power isn’t channeled, it greatly enhances our supernatural abilities. Usually the witch that cursed us—or her evil coven—would spell the power out of us, and use it for other things.” His forehead wrinkled in the middle, and I imagined he was thinking of experiences that were not positive.
I placed a hand on his cheek, rough with the stubble of his dark, five o’clock shadow. “I’m sorry.”
He offered me a small, thankful smile as his hand enveloped mine. He turned a cheek, and kissed the inside of my palm gently. My breath caught; it was such a simple gesture, but the feeling in his eyes was obvious. And I was almost positive that it was the same feeling I had for him: for all the boys really. But right now, for him specifically.
Acceptance. Understanding.
Home.
I grinned slowly at him.
“How do you feel?” He questioned me softly.
I shrugged with feigned indifference. “Fine.” Fine? Fine!? I felt more than fine! Every nerve ending in my body was charged; my skin burned pleasantly with heat. My mind was currently thinking things I haven’t thought in years about a man—hell, multiple men—at this point. And I said fine?
“Not tired or anything?” He asked carefully.
I scoffed. “Why would I be?”
“You really are a cambion. If
you were human, you’d be feeling the effects right now.”
“But—it was just a kiss! A really nice kiss, but it wasn’t like we—” I bit my lip, and looked away. Yeah, it wasn’t like we had sex or anything, but I so wish we would! “Wait. Does that mean you did your incubus thing on me?”
“Ava, I am the ‘incubus thing’. I don’t ever stop. So yes, I used my incubus thing on you, but it doesn’t mean I didn’t feel…” Mathias hesitated, turning away; cheeks blushing. “…things.”
“Things?” I asked expectantly. “What sort of things?”
Before he could finish his statement, Mathias’ head jerked towards the right, and he crumpled to the ground in a heap.
CHAPTER 20
I was at his side on the ground in a second. “Mathias? Mathias?” I lightly slapped his face and shook his shoulders.
He groaned, reaching up to rub the back of his head. “By the gods, what the hell was that?”
“What was what?” I demanded, confused and slightly hysterical. I looked around us; the dark hallway. Unless they were invisible, there was no one else here.
“I haven’t been hit that hard since Verona. Demascus put up a good fight.” Mathias slurred his words mildly as he slowly sat up, blinking quickly to regain his vision.
“Who was Demascus?” I asked, before I realized. “Oh. Gladiator. But you won, right?”
An impish glint lit up his eyes, and he beamed smugly. “Yes. Yes, I was victorious.”
I outstretched my hand to assist him; not that he needed it. He appreciated the gesture, though, and slid his hand in mine as he stood wobbly on his feet. “Is there anyone else here?”
“Not that I can tell. Unless they’re…invisible.”
Mathias frowned. He pointed to a single doorway. “I’m guessing that’s the normal dance floor, not the Underground. Hopefully they’re there,” he said, obviously meaning the other guys. The loud music emanated through the slight crack that surrounded it; only flickers of bright light illuminated the outline. “Maybe they’ll have seen something.”
I nodded. He offered his arm, and I took it. “Are we still going to try to get into the Underground?”
“That’s the goal, but I don’t see any other doors. Unless it’s a secret passage—I’m not sure how else we’ll get in,” he replied, defeated.
I grumbled. “We need Summer.”
“Yes.” We left the dark hallway behind and pushed open the heavy black door. “It’s the normal dancefloor, all right.” We both grimaced, as our senses were bombarded with the sounds of loud music, obnoxiously loud club goers, and the unpleasant smell of body odor.
I wanted to gag. I also tensed; tonight, the crowd was twice as big as the other night. Mostly, I had my anxiety under control. Except for when crowds got this big. Literally, there was hardly room to move.
“Hey.” Mathias pulled me closer to him, and draped his arm protectively over my shoulders. “I get nervous with crowds too.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah. Brings me back to the screaming hordes of spectators.” He shuddered. “So, we’ll stick together, right?”
I smiled appreciatively. “Right.”
“I’m sure they’re at the bar, so that’s where we go. Ready?” he asked carefully, and we both inhaled and nodded with determination. We began our way through the masses of sweaty young people, dancing and drinking with each other.
Now, unlike when I walked through a large group of people and generally got stepped on, Mathias had no trouble clearing the way. I don’t know if it was due to his sheer size, or piercing death glare in his eyes (probably both), but I was appreciative. No one touched, stepped on, or otherwise looked at me. It was marvelous.
Sure enough, when we passed the majority of the dancefloor, Trystan, Bash, and Xander were leaning against the bar, drinks in hands, effectively ignoring the various women lingering around them, eyeing them hungrily.
I narrowed my eyes. I had the urge to scratch some eyes out, and rip out some fake hair. One woman was edging herself much too close to Xander. He pretended not to notice, but his sidelong glance occasionally acknowledged that he knew she was there. She leaned over the bar, literally licking her lips, her enormous boobs spilling out of her low-cut top.
“Whoa, tiger,” Mathias said, squeezing my hand. “You aren’t jealous, are you?”
I glared at him, then back at the she-skank. “Who does she think she is?”
“It’s not her fault,” Mathias explained calmly, over the thrum of music. “The incubus allure just draws people to us. Whether we like it or not.”
I raised a brow. “People? All people?”
“Not everyone, but if they’re attracted to us. It doesn’t force anyone, if that’s what you mean. It just intensifies the attraction. In normal women,” he added, with a wink.
I snorted. “Normal my ass,” I muttered. We emerged from the crowd, and Xander was the first to notice us. Much to the dismay of the wanton bitchbag, Xander stepped away without even noticing she was there. The other guys followed behind, seemingly grateful for the distraction.
“Where you been?” Xander asked, threading one of his arms through my free one. “We were beginning to wonder if something happened!”
“Something did happen,” I replied,
“Mathias looks a little rattled, but no worse for the wear,” Bash observed. “So what happened?”
“I collapsed,” Mathias said simply. “Something beamed me over the head.”
Trystan crossed his arms over his chest. “Something? You didn’t see?”
I shook my head. “Nope. They either were extremely fast, or invisible.”
Bash smirked. “How could you miss it? What were you doing?”
I looked around the room; the bright lights, the sweaty dancers, the bitchy women at the bar: anything but Bash’s inquisitive stare.
“Uh-huh.” He shook his head at Mathias who just shrugged, running his free hand through the coif of black hair on top of his head and blowing out a low whistle. Bash wore on a look on his face like he knew exactly what happened between us.
“Are you sure it wasn’t just an after-effect of the blood lust?” Xander inquired. “You know how you get…”
Mathias tried to hide his smirk by catching his lower lip between his top and bottom teeth. “I actually was feeling fine.”
Bash chuckled shortly. “I’m sure you were…”
“Hey,” I said, freeing my arm from Mathias’ grasp and poking Bash in the chest—hard. “I’m free to do what I want. Or who I want, thank you. No one has made an official pass at me yet. Well…” I gave an indirect grin at Mathias, who just grinned. “Maybe not no one.” Bash just frowned at him, Trystan shook his head, elbowing his friend in the arm.
“It’s just all in fun, Bash. Lighten up.” He lightheartedly punched Mathias in the upper arm, before reaching out to finger a tendril of my hair that hung in my eyes.
I avoided the desire to swoon, instead pointedly staring at the slutty wench, now glaring daggers at me. I lifted my chin, and grinned smugly, pulling both boys a little bit closer to me.
“You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?” Trystan said with a playful look, as he tucked the hair behind my ear.
“Oh yeah,” I said haughtily. The “lady” with the boobs stalked away, the others that remained rolled their eyes, and spun around to face the bar. Damn right I enjoyed it. Who wouldn’t enjoy the company of four completely gorgeous men?
Well, Summer wouldn’t but other than that…speaking of…
“Have you seen Summer?” I asked, glancing at the three of them.
“No. Not one sign of her,” Xander said, with a sigh. “Did you find the entrance to the Underground?”
“Nope.” I patted my side, looking for my cell phone. I swore, remembering the thin dress had no pockets, and I had no bag.
Mathias pulled it out of his front pants pocket, and handed it to me. I smiled gratefully at him.
“While you do that, let’s ge
t you two some drinks.” Xander tugged at my arm and I followed him to the bar. “What do you want?”
I shrugged. “Whiskey and Coke I guess.”
“Got it.” He tapped on the bar for the bartender and ordered for me as I typed a message to Summer: Where are you? I set the phone on the bar, waiting for her response as Xander handed me my drink, and a pop—no alcohol—to Mathias.
“You have no idea what happened?” Bash asked, looking concerned and deep in thought.
“You think it’s a Collector?” I asked, swallowing both my anxiety and the drink as I took a sip.
He sighed. “I don’t know; I’ve not known any yet to have stealth abilities.”
“Could they have somehow gotten it from Ava when she was attacked the other day?” Xander asked.
Bash frowned. “No, I don’t think so. You said he was dead, right?”
“Yeah, but what if there was someone else there we couldn’t see?” I asked.
Bash drummed his fingers against the counter thoughtfully. “It’s possible, but not probable. No one has reported anything that could even begin to indicate stealth power on the void web yet. Doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist, but…” Bash was clearly unconvinced. “Super speed is more likely, but I have a hard time believing in any situation you’d miss him,” he said, giving Mathias a pointed look.
“It was very dark. Just a couple of sconces. He could have been some kind of ninja,” I suggested with a shrug.
“I can’t believe in all the time we were coming here, we’ve never noticed a secret entrance. It had to be in that hallway you were in—you’re sure you didn’t see anything?” Trystan inquired Mathias and me.
“Besides us, the sconces, a single chair, and a payphone there was nothing. Nothing visible, anyway,” Mathias said.
“Must be warded somehow,” Bash suggested. “You hear from Summer yet? That’s our best bet.”
I glimpsed again at the phone’s blank display. “Nope.”