by Anne Bishop
Nothing stirred. Nothing moved.
Clear your mind, he thought. Get back to Captain Dalton and the fellows. Cross over the bridge. Wizard City, Wizard City, Wizard City.
He turned to face the bridge straight on. Lifted a foot to set it on the planks of wood. A few moments more and he’d be safe.
It burst out of the ground, all legs and jaws. A familiar shape, if it had been the size of his thumbnail, now grown into a nightmare.
He screamed as it grabbed him and bit into his leg. He went down hard, his legs already numb from the venom, but he held on to the knife. Before the nightmare could pull him into the tunnel beneath the trapdoor, he reared up and, using both hands and what strength was left in his arms, drove the knife into the spider’s head.
Its legs flailed and its jaws bit deeper as the creature died. Then it lay still.
Panting, sweating, Faran turned his body as best he could. If he could stretch out his arm, he could reach the bridge. Had to reach the bridge. Had to get to the other side. Help was across…the…
Lynnea hummed a little tune while she cleaned off a table. She’d done pretty well for her first day of work. True, she’d forgotten part of one order, but she’d made up for it by calming down a bull demon bellowing for food.
Grinning, she wondered if she’d get to be the first to tell Sebastian about the new addition to Philo’s menu: the Sebastian Special. Who would have guessed a vegetable omelet could impress a demon?
She took her tray of dirty dishes back to the kitchen, gave Brandon a cheerful smile, since he was the one stuck with the washing up, grabbed another tray, and headed back out to the courtyard to clear off another table.
Despite the Eater of the World being loose in the landscapes and the very real possibility that terrible things could happen in the Den, she had never been happier. She had work she found interesting, she was with a good man who was also an incredible lover, and—noticing the blond man across the street, she smiled—she was making friends.
The Den wasn’t the place she would have picked if she could have chosen a landscape, but here she’d found all the things she’d yearned for, so it had turned out to be the right place for her after all.
She picked up the full tray, then waited for Teaser to cross the street so she could tell him she needed a few more minutes to finish up before she could go back to the bordello. She’d promised Sebastian that she’d stay at Philo’s until he or Teaser escorted her back to the room.
Problem was, there wasn’t anything to do when she got there. She wasn’t used to having idle time, and it seemed wasteful to sit and do nothing. Well, she’d just have to think about what skills she had and how she could make use of them. If she could find the supplies she needed, she could knit some scarves. The Den’s visitors would have no use for such simple things, but the residents might appreciate them when the weather turned cold. If it did turn cold. She’d ask Teaser as soon as he…
She watched a woman walk up to Teaser, watched the body language that plainly indicated a flirtation—or something more—was going on between them.
Watched him walk away with the woman without so much as a glance in her direction.
So that was how well promises were kept in the Den.
He’s an incubus. This is what he does. I suppose it’s silly to feel hurt that he chose to go off with a bed partner instead of keeping a promise to me…or Sebastian.
“Isn’t it time for you to be going?” Philo asked, glancing in her direction when she brought the tray into the kitchen. “I thought Teaser was coming for you.”
“Apparently not,” she replied, just sharply enough to have him turn away from his pots and pans to look at her.
She shrugged to indicate it was nothing. “Got more customers. I’ll take the order.” She was out of the kitchen before Philo could ask any questions.
She’d just taken the order and was heading back to give it to Philo when Teaser walked into the courtyard, rubbing his hands and looking gleeful.
“You ready to go?” he asked. “Or do I have time for a bowl of whatever Philo’s serving?”
“Finish your business so soon?” she replied tartly.
“Just in time, I’d say. Was down at Hastings playing a few hands of cards while I waited for you. Won the last hand, scooped up my winnings, and said I had to be off to give Sebastian’s lady an escort. Bull demon at the table didn’t even bellow about me leaving before he had a chance to win a few coins back. He just rumbled, ‘om…e…let good’—whatever that means.”
Lynnea stared at him. “Teaser, I saw you just now. You went off to the bordello with a woman.”
“Didn’t.” He looked baffled and a little hurt. “Said I’d be here, and here I am.”
“But I saw you.”
He shook his head. “Must have been someone else.”
“There’s someone else in the Den who looks just like you?”
“Wasn’t me. Although…” He rubbed the back of his neck. “Hastings said he saw me in the tavern a couple of days ago making time with the succubitch, which is a load of horse…stuff, since he knows I can’t stand her.” He turned and looked in the direction of the bordello. “But he also said no one has seen her since then.” He looked back at Lynnea. “Come on. I’ll take you to the room. Then I’m going to see what I can find out about this…twin…people have been seeing.”
“All right. Let me give Philo this order; then I can go.”
As she started to walk away, Teaser grabbed her arm. “How much did this other fellow look like me?”
She hesitated, more because he seemed upset than because she wasn’t sure of what she’d seen. “Well,” she hedged, “he was across the street, and he wasn’t directly under one of the lights, so I could have been mistak—”
“If he’d come over here, would you have gone with him?” Teaser demanded.
A chill went through her as she stared into his blue eyes. “Yes,” she whispered. “I would have gone with him, thinking he was you.” And if the man she’d seen wasn’t Teaser, what might have happened to her once she was away from Philo’s? There were plenty of dark alleys where she might have been taken and…hurt.
She knew two women had died in the Den before she’d arrived. Sebastian had told her about them. That was one of the reasons he didn’t want her walking around alone.
“I have to give this order to Philo,” she said, holding on to something simple and ordinary. As soon as Teaser released her arm, she hurried to the kitchen. She must have looked as shaky as she felt, because both Brandon and Philo stopped working to stare at her.
She ignored the stares, gave Philo the order, and told him she had to go now.
“Teaser is here?” Philo asked.
“Yes.” But was she certain the man waiting for her was Teaser? She’d met the incubus only a few days ago and didn’t know him that well.
Maybe she should tell Teaser she was going to wait for Sebastian, even if it hurt his feelings. But what if a man approached her wearing Sebastian’s face? Would she be able to tell the difference?
Yes. Definitely, yes. She knew the feel of Sebastian, would be able to pick him out in a crowd of men all wearing his face. Because none of them would be able to imitate the feel of his heart.
But there was still the question of Teaser. Go or stay? The hesitation must have shown in her face, because he cocked his head when she walked toward him.
“If I promise not to leave wet towels on the bathroom floor anymore, will you let me escort you to the bordello?”
Relief surged through her. No one but the real Teaser would think to say that to her. “I’ll hold you to that promise.” She linked her arm through his as they left Philo’s courtyard. “So how much did you win off the bull demon?”
He grinned and relaxed—and asked her about her first day working for Philo instead of answering.
Yes, that felt like the real Teaser. Smiling, she told him about the bull demon and the Sebastian Special while they walked to t
he bordello.
Sebastian planted his feet on either side of the demon cycle when it stopped halfway down the Den’s main street. Since it floated on air, he didn’t need to do that to keep the cycle upright. He just wanted to see if his legs still stretched to the ground.
Why had he spent the past few hours riding around, looking for signs that the Eater of the World had found a way into one of the dark landscapes that bordered the Den? Why had he studied every bridge as if he could tell what he might find if he crossed over?
Part of it was his promise to Lee to do what he could to protect the Den. The other part was that he needed something to do while Lynnea was working at Philo’s. Hovering around the courtyard would have made her nervous—and might have given too much of an impression that he was waiting for the right company to come along. And in a way that was true, since he’d be waiting for Lynnea.
He felt no desire to troll the streets for a woman. Hadn’t felt the need since he’d met his little rabbit. Just living with her fed the incubus’s hunger in ways the hottest sex with other women had never done. He craved her company, the sound of her voice, the feel of her skin beneath his hands.
Besides his own lack of interest in being some other woman’s dream lover, he didn’t think Lynnea would see his carnal attentions to another woman as anything but a betrayal—the kind of betrayal that would break a woman’s heart. So if he wasn’t going to troll the Den and provide sex as a commodity, what could he do to earn his keep?
He lifted one hand, rubbed his thumb over his fingertips. He felt the tingle of power that marked him as a wizard. Since “wizard” was a dirty word in the Den, he still hadn’t told anyone about the power that had awakened in him. But sooner or later people would find out. Sooner or later he’d have to decide what he was going to do with that power.
Which led his thoughts back to why he’d spent the past few hours roaming the boundaries of the Den.
Defender. Protector. A few weeks ago he would have laughed if anyone had used those words to describe him. Now, knowing he was the one who anchored the Den made a difference. Lynnea made a difference. This was his place. These were his people. She was his woman.
Could that really be enough for her, to be his woman? Could the Den give her enough of what she needed so that she’d be content to stay? Even if they couldn’t live in the cottage right now, he could take her to visit Aunt Nadia. She could shop in Aurora, talk to the kind of people she was used to. Spend a few hours in sunlight. Would it be enough to keep her coming back to him and the kind of loving he could offer a woman?
But in the village…How would Aunt Nadia introduce her? As a young friend visiting from another landscape? As her nephew’s companion? Oh, that would produce plenty of knife-edged smiles and whispers as soon as Lynnea turned her back. But what else could Nadia call her? His wife?
Sebastian’s heart gave a hard bump before settling back into its usual rhythm.
Wife. Friend, lover, companion.
No. Oh, no. “Wife” was a human word, not one to be bandied about in a place like the Den. Besides, “wife” went with “marriage,” and that was too…permanent. He’d known Lynnea only a few days. His craving for her could diminish, could disappear altogether. The temptation to feast on another woman’s emotions and flesh could rise up at any moment. After all, he was an incubus. Constancy wasn’t part of what he was.
Then he saw her with Teaser, heading for the bordello, and he knew his craving for her wouldn’t diminish, wouldn’t disappear. This was more than a craving. This was love. So he’d find some way of giving her what she needed so that she would be willing to stay.
“There’s Lynnea,” he said.
The demon cycle growled what might have been a happy sound and zipped forward so fast Sebastian was sure he’d scraped off half the soles of his boots before he managed to lift his feet.
“Slow down before you knock someone over,” Sebastian snapped. Not that his order made a bit of difference. The demon cycle tore around the corner and into the side street with no regard for anything that might have been in the way.
Of course, Lynnea had gone inside by the time they reached the building, which left him promising a sulky demon that he’d ask if she wanted to go for a ride later.
What was it about his little rabbit-turned-tigress that made demons act besotted?
Best not to think too hard about that, since you’re one of those demons, he chided himself as he walked into the building.
“Better keep your eyes on Teaser,” the desk clerk called as Sebastian headed for the stairs. “Your lady is the second one he’s brought here in the past hour.”
He paused. “Up to our rooms?”
The clerk shook his head and gave a room number on the second floor.
Sebastian took the steps two at a time. Daylight! What was Teaser up to? Why take Lynnea to one of the rooms that were rented for a “night” of pleasure when an incubus or succubus didn’t want to bring the prey home? He’d trusted Teaser to look after Lynnea because he and Teaser had been friends for so many years—and because he’d had the feeling that, while the other incubus was drawn to Lynnea, Teaser didn’t see her as prey.
Bounding up the last steps, he turned into the corridor just in time to see Teaser backing away from an open door.
“It’s not me,” Teaser said as he hit the wall opposite the door and slid to the floor. “It’s not me!”
Lynnea dropped to her knees and wrapped her arms around Teaser, who sounded hysterical.
Sebastian didn’t know if she’d heard him or just sensed him, but she turned her head and looked at him, her eyes full of worry and relief.
He strode to the door, stepped into the room—and froze.
The woman on the bed was so ensnared in a sexual haze she wasn’t aware of anything else. Her hands were fisted in the sheets and her hips pumped with the desperation of someone whose release was being held just out of reach, but her breathing sounded painfully harsh and her eyes were chillingly blank.
The man was too busy pounding himself into her to either notice or care that he had an audience.
The woman’s breathing became more labored, but her hips kept up the desperate pumping.
Save the woman. Get that bastard off of her.
But as he took another step, the man turned his head and looked at him.
Teaser’s face. But there was a sharp cruelty in the smile and a viciousness in the eyes that he’d never seen in his friend—not even when Teaser was being cruel.
The humping continued, hard and fast, the last thrusts before release. The woman moaned, but it was impossible to tell if the sound was a response to pain or pleasure.
As Sebastian breathed in the feral, musky scent that filled the room, the power of the incubus unfurled inside him, a sharp-edged hunger honed by the other male.
Yes. Take her. She was only human, only prey. Feed desire until it became insatiable, then feast on the flood of feelings, working the body until the mind was helpless to do anything but respond and provide more meat for the feast. Feast and feast until the prey was incapable of fighting to survive.
Kill with pleasure.
One last thrust. The woman cried out—a liquid, unhealthy sound, as if something had broken inside her. The male with Teaser’s face closed his eyes and sighed with pleasure.
Sebastian’s heart pounded. He felt hot, hard—and sick with a desperate hunger he had never felt in quite that way before.
Then he heard Lynnea’s voice, just a murmur of comfort to Teaser, and he gasped for air, feeling as if he’d almost been pulled into a dark, ugly place. He had never hunted like this, had no desire to hunt like this.
But in a dark corner of his heart, he understood the power of this kind of hunt, understood the cruel pleasure. And he understood that without Nadia, Glorianna, and Lee, he might have become a hunter like the male now rolling off the bed.
The male moved to the center of the room—Teaser’s body but not his eyes. There was nothin
g of Teaser in those eyes.
“Diluted spawn,” the male said, sneering. “One-faced mongrel who does its tricks to win a few scraps of emotion. We starved, locked away in that landscape, while the ones we had driven out because they had become tainted by feelings survived by hiding in the human landscapes. They mated with prey and ended up producing things like you.”
“What are you?” Sebastian said, even though he already knew. In his blood, in the marrow of his bones, he knew.
The male’s body changed. The blond hair darkened. The blue eyes turned green.
Sebastian stared at his own face.
“I’m what you should have been,” the male replied. He looked over Sebastian’s shoulder. “I’m more than you’ll ever be. She won’t be able to resist me,” he added in Sebastian’s voice.
Lynnea.
The hunger of the incubus withered inside Sebastian as another power flared, fed by fear and fury.
He threw himself at the incubus, sent them crashing to the floor. It fought viciously, with animalistic savagery. But hearing Lynnea shouting his name made him just as vicious, just as savage in his desperation to save her from what this male would do to her.
It rolled, pinning him beneath it, its hands around his throat, choking him.
Then Lynnea darted into the room, grabbed the male by the hair, and yanked. That provided enough of a distraction for Sebastian to break the choke hold and roll away.
The other male rolled, too, trying to grab her, but Teaser dashed into the room and pulled Lynnea back to the doorway.
Sebastian scrambled to his feet, gasping for air. The other male got to his feet with more grace—and changed again.
Sebastian stared at the bull demon. It didn’t have the height or muscle of a real bull demon, but the horns could gore him just as effectively.
He felt the tingle of power, but he still hesitated to reveal the wizard side of his nature.
Then the male roared, lowered his head, and charged—not at Sebastian but at Teaser, the rival male who was holding the female prey.
Sebastian leaped on the male, one hand grabbing a horn while the other hand clamped on the male’s throat. As they twisted and fell, he let the wizard’s lightning surge through him and into his hands.
