Incubus (The Daughters Of Lilith)

by Jennifer Quintenz

  Lucas honked the horn outside. I glanced out the door, torn.

  “Just tell me why,” Cassie said. “It’s the very least you can do.”

  “I’ll tell you everything,” I said. “When I get back.”

  Cassie shook her head, too overwhelmed to speak. I glanced at Seth, pleading silently for help.

  “I can handle this,” he said. “I’ll stay with her.” I nodded, grateful. Seth caught my hand before I could leave. I saw the fear in his eyes. “Take care of yourself,” he whispered.

  I gave him a faint smile, but I’m pretty sure it didn’t reach my eyes.

  A gloomy carpet of desert stretched out before us as we sped down the highway away from town. The night was quiet, eager. Waiting for the moon and its illumination to bring life to the darkness.

  Lucas drove in silence, hands gripping the wheel tightly. The soft glow from my dashboard lit his features, reflecting pinpoints of light in his deep hazel eyes. I couldn’t tear my gaze away from him. The seconds ticked past, and the silence between us grew so thick it threatened to suffocate me. I had to speak.

  “I’m glad you’re here, Lucas.”

  “You shouldn’t take it personally,” Lucas said. “This is my responsibility as a Guardsman.”

  It felt like he’d slapped me. I stared ahead, my stomach in knots.

  “You should call Murphy,” Lucas said after a moment. His jaw twitched, a sign I knew all too well. He was holding himself in check, clamping down on his emotions. My eyesight blurred, but I fished my phone out of my pocket. The ringer was off. As I glanced at it, I saw I had five missed calls from Dad. I hit redial, turning to stare out the window.

  Dad picked up on the second ring. “Braedyn?! Where are you?!”

  “Hale hasn’t called you yet?” I asked, surprised.

  “Hale?” Dad sounded mystified. “What’s going on?”

  “The ritual. It’s not complete until the moon rises. We still have time to stop it,” I said.

  “Stop it how? What are you planning?” Dad asked.

  “I—I just assumed we could—” I lowered my voice, suddenly embarrassed. “Move the vessel or something.”

  “You’re dealing with ancient Lilitu ritual magic,” Dad said. “I don’t think it’s going to be that simple. Hold on. Let me see if I can get Ian on the line.”

  I stole a glance at Lucas out of the corner of my eye. He had his eyes fixed on the road. You’d think he was driving alone. I turned away from him again. It hurt too much to be ignored by him.

  Dad returned a moment later. “Ian, are you there?”

  I heard the older man’s voice. “Yes. Braedyn? Your father tells me you believe it might not be too late to stop this ritual.”

  “We think it’s not complete until moonrise,” I said.

  “Interesting. Can you walk me through the ritual? Tell me everything that you did,” Ian said.

  “I—” I swallowed, glancing at Lucas. “Right.” As we sped toward the mission, I described every step of the ritual to Ian. Lucas listened. His expression darkened with each passing moment, and his knuckles grew whiter against the steering wheel. The only detail I changed was the bit about the Lilitu blood. I told Ian we’d gotten a vial somewhere, but Lucas glanced at my bandaged hand. I described what had happened when the dawn sun had hit the floor of the mission. Lucas glanced at my face then, with a look of startled horror.

  Ian was silent for a long moment. “Salt,” he said at last. “That was a clever move. Clever and dangerous.”

  “What—?” I started to ask. Ian cut me off.

  “The salt, contained within the vessel, should focus the power of the ritual. It also serves as a protection against supernatural interference.”

  “What—what kind of supernatural interference?”

  “Angelic,” Ian said simply.

  “Sansenoy,” I breathed. I suddenly remembered Karayan’s warning that one of the Three was hunting for the incubus. I conjured the image of the angel in my mind. He’d appeared—both times I’d seen him in the flesh—as an old man with a scraggly beard and eyes more ancient and mysterious than the ocean.

  “Perhaps,” Ian said. I heard the curiosity behind his words.

  “Salt?” Dad prompted. “Are you suggesting there might be a way to break the ritual with the salt?”

  “Yes,” Ian said, coming back to the point. “As I’d started to explain, the salt makes the ritual both more powerful, and more vulnerable. You see, as long as the vessel remains undisturbed, the salt will increase the power of the ritual such that—as you saw with the dawn light—the transformative aspects of the ritual should happen almost instantaneously.”

  “Meaning?” Dad asked. I could sense that he was trying to hurry Ian along without losing his patience.

  “Meaning,” Ian said. “If the moonlight falls on the seal, the seal should open immediately. Typically in a ritual of this sort, the transformative aspects of the ritual happen more gradually. So for instance, the symbols you painted on the seal would have taken most of the day to sink into the stone.”

  “How can she stop the ritual?” Dad snapped.

  “Take advantage of the incubus’s arrogance,” Ian replied, unperturbed. “Simply take up the vessel and scatter the salt over the surface of the seal. That should prevent the door from opening.”

  “All right,” I said. “We should be there in about five minutes.”

  “What?!” Dad’s voice shot up several octaves. “You’ve left town?”

  “Hale and the rest of the Guardsmen should be on their way,” I explained. “Seth called them after we left.”

  “Braedyn, I don’t want you anywhere near that mission.”

  “Dad,” I countered. “This is my fault. I don’t have a choice.” I lowered the phone, ready to end the call.

  “Braedyn!” Dad shouted into the phone, as though he could sense my finger hovering over the “end call” button. “Braedyn!”

  Reluctantly, I raised the phone back up. “I’m here.”

  “Don’t do anything foolish. Just wait for me. I’m coming to you right now.”

  I heard the line go dead. After a moment, I shoved my phone back in my pocket. More silence. Lucas kept his eyes focused on the road ahead.

  “I’ll never be able to make it right,” I said. “What I did to you. I know that. But I want you to know,” I swallowed, trying to keep my voice from shaking. “I regretted it the instant it happened.” Lucas didn’t even blink. “Lucas?” No response. I bit my lip, letting my eyes fall to my hands in my lap. After a few moments of silence, he spoke.

  “It didn’t happen.”

  I looked up, hope leaping into my heart. But Lucas’s face was stony. “I—I don’t understand,” I said.

  “It didn’t happen,” he repeated. “Accidents happen. This was deliberate. This was you, going into my mind and taking a secret you knew I didn’t want to give. And then you clawed the memory out of my mind. Along with everything I’d studied for that history test, and God only knows what else.”

  His words bore into my heart, unleashing an unexpected wave of pain. “You—you think I took—?” I stopped, suddenly sick.

  “I don’t know,” he said. “I don’t know what you took. That’s the whole point, isn’t it?”

  I shook my head helplessly. “I wasn’t trying to hurt—”

  He suddenly hit the steering wheel, so hard I jumped in my seat. “You screwed with my mind, Braedyn. How can you sit there and say you weren’t trying to hurt me?”

  Of course he was right.

  “You know, we probably shouldn’t talk about this,” Lucas said. “I just want to stay focused on stopping this thing from happening.”

  “Okay,” I said. Silence filled the car once more. I kept my eyes focused on the road ahead. Lucas’s words settled in my stomach like a lead weight. The small hope I’d nourished—that he might forgive me someday for this transgression—guttered and went out.

  “Someone’s following us.” H
is voice cut across my thoughts.

  “What?” I glanced at Lucas. He was scanning something in the rearview mirror.

  “They’ve been on our tail since town. I thought they might just be traveling through the pass, but they missed the last turn off. The only thing up here is the summer campsites and the mission. So either they really like sleeping in the snow, or they’re heading the same place we are.”

  I turned to stare out the back window at the car behind us. One of the front headlights was drooping to the left, evidence of a bad repair after a fender bender. I knew that car. It belonged to Mrs. Ang.

  “It’s Cassie,” I whispered, a new fear clutching my stomach.

  “Are you sure?”

  “I’m sure.”

  Lucas shook his head, but whatever he was thinking, he kept it to himself.

  “How far to the turn off?” I asked.

  “We’re here.” Lucas slowed and gave me a look. “Suggestions?”

  “We can’t stop,” I said. “The moon’s going to rise any minute now.”

  “If Cassie follows us—” He slowed even farther as the turn off leading to the mission came into view. “She’s not prepared for what might be waiting for us up there.”

  He was right. Cassie had no idea that Lilitu existed. She’d be incapable of defending herself from an attack, and if Lucas and I had to fight the incubus inside, we might not have the luxury of offering her protection. She’d be walking into a life-threatening situation, completely oblivious to the danger she was in. I glanced at the crest of the mountain. It was just barely edged with silver. The moon was rising behind it, and as soon as it crested the mountain, the ritual would be complete. We were out of time.

  “Don’t stop,” I whispered. My voice sounded hollow in my ears.

  “It really sucks being your friend,” Lucas said quietly. He pulled onto the dirt road. In moments, we were driving up the foothills toward the mission. Lucas hit the high beams, illuminating the desert far ahead into the night. As we came around the final turn, the headlights fell on the mission.

  “Turn them off,” I said.

  Lucas did as I asked without comment. Flickering light emanated from the mission.

  “Someone’s inside.” I breathed. Adrenaline shot through my system, leaving a bitter taste on the back of my tongue. Some part of me had held onto the hope that we’d arrive to find the mission deserted. No such luck.

  Lucas pulled the car over at the edge of the parking lot, killing the engine. It was unlikely whoever was inside had heard us. The doors were closed, and those old mission walls were thick adobe. But they might have seen our headlights. Which meant they might know we were coming.

  “How do you want to do this?” Lucas asked.

  “I’m going in. You keep Cassie from following.” I leaned over and pulled my school bag from under my seat. I reached a hand inside and withdrew my daggers.

  “Not to state the obvious or anything,” Lucas said. “But you do realize there’s probably an incubus in there. We don’t even know if those daggers work on them.”

  “Careful, Lucas,” I said, opening my door. “You’re going to give me the impression that you care.” I got out of the car and walked toward the mission. I didn’t look back.

  Chapter 18

  A minuscule fleck of ice left a tiny kiss on my cheek. I looked up. It would be a stretch to say it was snowing. Tiny ice crystals must have blown in from an approaching storm. They were so light that even a wave of my hand could disturb their plummet to the ground. They vanished as soon as they met the desert floor.

  I heard Cassie’s car approaching. Wheels crunched through gravel as she drove into the parking lot. Headlights swept past my feet, sending my shadow stretching toward the mission. I didn’t turn back. Lucas would deal with Cassie. I had a job to do.

  My eyes cut back to the mountain. Silver light outlined the ridge against the black sky, but the rising moon hadn’t breached the crest. Yet. There wasn’t much time left.

  I reached the mission’s massive doors. I grabbed hold of the ancient brass loop serving as the door’s handle with my good hand and pulled. The door didn’t budge. Surprised, I took the ring with both of my hands and squared my shoulders to the door. This time I pulled hard, throwing everything into the effort. The door creaked softly, but did not open. It was locked. Only, I knew this door did not have a lock. Not the kind you could open with a key. Someone must have set the massive timber across the doors from inside.

  “... between me and Braedyn!” Cassie’s voice cut through the night. I spun around, my nerves frayed. Lucas called softly to Cassie, grabbing her arm. She pulled out of his grip and walked away from him. She was making a beeline straight for me. Lucas saw me watching and threw his hands up in a gesture that said, “what do you want me to do?”

  I tucked my daggers through the back of my belt, then rushed forward to intercept Cassie before she got any closer to the mission. “What are you doing here?” I whispered. “You’re supposed to be waiting at my house with Seth.”

  Cassie eyed the mission behind me. “So this is the big emergency? You just had to come visit some obscure tourist attraction in the middle of the night?”

  “Cassie, you shouldn’t be here.” I tried to nudge her back toward her car.

  Cassie ignored the urgency in my voice and crossed her arms, looking mutinous. “I’m tired of being stuck in your shadow.” This was so far out of left field I could only stare at Cassie. “You think I’m blind?” she asked. “I’ve seen how everyone looks at you. Lucas. Seth. Even Parker was obsessed with you first. But Mr. Hart?” Her eyes tightened with pain.

  Lucas joined us, glancing at the crest. “Braedyn, should you really be doing this right now?”

  “I know,” I hissed, turning to him. “But the door is locked.”

  Lucas gave me a piercing look, then passed us, running for the door.

  “Go home, Cassie.” I turned and followed him.

  “Hey,” Cassie protested.

  Lucas and I reached the door. He tried to pull it open.

  “I told you,” I said grimly.

  Cassie grabbed my shoulder, trying to force me to look at her. “He was a decent man until you sunk your claws into him!”

  “What is wrong with you, Cassie?” I spun on her, snapping. “You know me. Do you really believe I’d do something like that?”

  “I really believe,” Cassie hissed. I stared at her, at a loss for words.

  “Wait a minute.” Lucas’s eyes narrowed. He grabbed Cassie and turned her to face him. “Cassie, look at me for a sec.”

  “And you,” Cassie spat. “You’re always defending her—”

  Lucas slapped Cassie across the face, hard. Cassie staggered back, clutching her cheek.

  “Lucas!” I spun on him. But he was watching Cassie, unsettled. Something about his expression sent a shiver chasing over my skin.

  “She’s been enthralled,” he said.

  “How—?” I started.

  “Unless she’s into girls, how do you think?” Lucas looked grim. Cassie rubbed at her face. She seemed to be coming back to her senses.

  “The incubus?” My mouth went dry. “But we only left her 20 minutes ago.” Another realization struck me then, stabbing fingers of ice into my heart. “Lucas, Seth was with her.” Lucas read my anxiety and turned back to Cassie.

  “Where’s Seth?” he asked. Cassie didn’t answer. Lucas took her by the shoulders and shook her roughly. Cassie’s eyes slid to his face, frightened. “Cassie, where’s Seth?” he asked again.

  “I don’t know,” she said. “I’m not sure what—” She looked around, confused. “What’s happening?”

  I heard it then, a faint sound from behind the wooden doors. I grabbed Lucas’s arm. “Listen.” We pushed closer to the door, straining to catch the sound again. Cassie hung back, curling hands around her arms. She looked shell-shocked, lost. But I was focused on the door, and the sound I’d thought I’d heard coming from behind the thick
panels of oak.

  “Braedyn?” It was Seth, his voice hoarse with tension. “Braedyn, is that you?” He must have been whispering through the seam between the doors.

  “We’re here,” I whispered back, kneeling to press my eye to the crack of the door. I could make out Seth, sprawled on the floor, arms bent behind his back.

  “You have to get me out of here,” Seth moaned.

  “Are you hurt?” I asked.

  “Uh, I don’t think so,” Seth said. I saw him struggling on the floor. “But I can’t move. I’m tied up.”

  “What happened?”

  “I don’t know. One minute I’m talking to Cassie, the next minute—It’s him, Braedyn. I don’t know how but he found us.” Panic threaded through Seth’s voice. “Cassie. Braedyn, I think he got to Cassie.”

  “She’s okay,” I said. I glanced at Lucas and he nodded.

  “She was enthralled,” Lucas murmured through the door. “But there’s no permanent damage.”

  Seth made a throaty sound that was half-whimper, half-sob.

  Lucas glanced at me, tense. “Seth... how did you guys get here before us?”

  “He—” Seth’s throat seemed to tighten. Each word was a struggle. “We were in the kitchen. Then we weren’t.”

  “The dream.” I looked at Lucas, feeling a chill spread over my shoulders. “He must have stepped through the dream and pulled Seth with him.” Lucas nodded, his expression stony. It took more than typical Lilitu power to use the dream space to create a bridge from one physical place to another. It meant the incubus was strong. Very strong.

  “Get me out of here,” Seth pleaded. “Open the door.”

  “We can’t,” I said. “It’s barred from the inside.”

  Seth slumped against the floor, suddenly petrified. “You—you should go,” he whispered. “Before the seal opens. Run.”