Incubus of Bourbon Street

by Deanna Chase

  And if an evil spirit or entity managed to trap an angel in the shadows with this new disruption, the angel’s soul would be in serious danger. Shadow walking wasn’t difficult for those of us who had the gift. It wouldn’t be hard to take an angel with you. All one had to do was grab hold of an angel and imagine the shadows until the fabric between the two worlds faded away. Then the shadow walker and angel could cross over. Chessandra had good reason to be worried.

  “If I hadn’t sent them out in a group,” Chessandra continued and started pacing, “we might have lost someone. When no one returned, I knew there was a problem and summoned them back. Had they not been under my direct command, they would’ve been trapped there. Lost for good.” Her hands started to shake. She glanced down at them and then hastily clasped them together. “That’s why this is top secret. The shadow world is too dangerous for us now. And too many beings have access. We’re vulnerable. I won’t have that. I need you to figure out the problem and come up with a plan to fix it before any souls are lost. And I’m not just talking about angels here. If we’re attacked, humans will be next, and we won’t be able to do anything about it.”

  I sat back in the chair, processing. Chessandra was freaking out. I’d never seen the high angel lose her cool like this before. Not even when talking about angels being taken into Hell, which was by far the worst thing for an angel. But this was different—an unknown. She clearly had no idea what to do to keep her angels safe, other than send a white witch and an incubus in to investigate while trying to keep the news under wraps.

  “All right,” Kane said. “We’ll investigate tonight and report back in the morning after I talk with Maximus.”

  “Be sure you do not divulge what I just told you about my angels, Mr. Rouquette. I don’t distrust the Brotherhood, but in organizations there are always leaks. Remember, one angel was affected and that’s it.”

  Kane’s expression didn’t change. “Understood.”

  “And you, Ms. Calhoun…” Chessandra paused and eyed me.

  Kane’s hand tightened around mine when she said Calhoun. It was the second time she’d used my maiden name. I still hadn’t changed my last name despite the fact that Kane and I had been married for two months. I knew he wanted me to, but I hadn’t gotten around to it yet.

  “Yes?” I asked.

  She crossed her arms over her chest. “Use of your coven is off limits.”

  “You do realize that’ll weaken my magical abilities, right?” I couldn’t call on the coven’s collective when I was in the shadows anyway, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t be useful for other spells I might need to get the job done.

  “It’s too risky. You’re powerful enough.”

  I swallowed a frustrated grunt. I was glad she thought so. I wasn’t so sure.

  Kane stood up and tugged on my hand for me to join him. “We’ll be in touch,” he told Chessandra.

  I rose and asked, “Will they be all right? The angels?”

  Chessandra nodded slowly. “They’re recovering. The physician expects them to be back on their feet within a week or so.”

  “Good.” The image of our resident angel Lailah lying in a hospital bed, the life nearly drained out of her, rushed through my head. A chill rippled over my spine, making the vision feel all too real. I’d seen enough of my friends injured by mystical forces to know what that felt like. Sympathy for Chessandra hit me hard, and I reached out, taking her hand in mine. “We’ll do our best.”

  She stared at our connection for a moment, then pulled her hand back. Her expression turned hard. “You’ll do better than your best. You’ll fix the shadows or you’ll die trying.”

  I opened my mouth, ready to tell her exactly what she could do with her orders, but was cutoff when she waved her hand once again.

  This time, my entire world blurred into shades of white. And when everything cleared, Kane and I were once again standing in our living room.

  “What a bitch,” I said, my heart pounding with anger.

  Kane stood still beside me, a calm expression on his face as frustration streamed off him. If I hadn’t been an empath and felt the tension coating my skin, I never would have known. “Try not to let her get to you, love.”

  I gave him a side-eye glance. “You’ve got to be kidding me. Don’t act like she didn’t get under your skin, ’cause you can’t hide from me.” I wrapped my arms around him and gazed up into his handsome face. My lips twitched into a small teasing smile. “Come on, Kane. Tell me how you really feel, just this once.”

  He shook his head slowly. “No. It’ll only encourage you.”

  “To do what?”

  “Feed your irritation. And since you already know I agree with you that she’s a bitch, why don’t we move on to something more important. Like dinner?” He slipped out of my embrace and tugged me toward the kitchen.

  “Dinner.” I sighed. I was supposed to have crepes and tuna. Now I was probably looking at toast. I couldn’t even remember the last time one of us went shopping. “Is there anything in the fridge?”

  Kane pulled the stainless steel door open and grinned.

  I peeked over his shoulder and spotted take-out containers that hadn’t been there earlier. “Where’d those come from?”

  He reached in, grabbed the containers, and handed me a note that had been taped to the top one.

  “Pyper! Oh, man, I love that girl.” Pyper was Kane’s best friend and business partner. While she didn’t make it a habit of just walking into our house, she did have a key in case of emergencies. And having to run out during dinner definitely qualified. At least, tonight it did. I was starving. “What’d she get us?”

  Kane flipped the tops on the containers. “Crepes, tuna, and steak.” He opened another smaller Styrofoam bowl. “And gumbo.”

  “God, now I love her more.”

  Kane chuckled and gave me a mischievous grin.

  “Stop.” I swatted his arm. Pyper was bisexual, and he never missed a chance to make some inappropriate innuendo when the opportunity arose.

  He laughed and went to work on heating up the food.

  I skipped the wine we usually had with dinner and filled two water glasses. After placing them on the table, I sat and texted Pyper, Thank you!

  She replied with an emoticon happy face.

  We really did have great friends.

  Kane brought the food over, giving me the crepes and the tuna, while he took the gumbo and the beef. I smiled at him, loving that he knew what I wanted without even having to ask. He kissed the top of my head and then sat next to me. He raised his water glass. “To enjoying dinner.”

  I mimicked his motion and said, “To spending quality time with my husband.”

  His expression softened as he took my hand and kissed my palm.

  We ate in silence, both pretending we were a normal couple who hadn’t been ordered to fix a whole other dimension.

  ***

  We’d just finished eating dinner when the doorbell rang. “I got it,” I called to Kane and headed to the front of our shotgun double home. Before I even opened the door, the angel’s refreshing energy washed over me. I smiled and pulled the door open.

  Lailah stood on our front porch, her honey-blond hair piled high on her head. Her eye makeup was smoky and her lips bright red.

  “Where are you headed off to tonight?” I asked, waving her in.

  “I had a date to see the new production Witches Don’t Cry at the theatre, but then orders came down to check on you and Kane.” She swept past me and headed into the kitchen without waiting for me to answer.

  “Alrighty then.” I closed the door and followed her.

  She had her head buried in the fridge while Kane finished loading the dishwasher. The scene was so domesticated it was ridiculous. Usually Kane was off hunting demons and I was busy with the coven. And on other nights, Kane was at his strip club overseeing business, and I was in my glass studio making glass beads to sell to jewelry designers. I couldn’t even remember the l
ast time we’d eaten dinner at home.

  Lailah pulled a bottle of lemonade out of the fridge and then slumped against the counter. She took a long drink before asking, “When are you going to investigate the shadows?”

  “We were going to go just as soon as we finished cleaning up.” I waved toward Kane, who was wiping down the counter.

  “Where?” she asked.

  I glanced at Kane.

  He shrugged.

  “I guess at the club.” I hated walking into the shadows from our house. It just felt too invasive to do that from our sanctuary. Plus, there was a portal beneath the club, and had anything breached it, we’d be able to tell.

  “That’s what I figured.” She took another long drink. “I’ve been ordered to keep tabs on what you two are up to, but to stay away from the investigation. Want to tell me why?” Her big blue eyes were bright with suspicion.

  “Guh!” I couldn’t help the outburst. What was wrong with Chessandra? If she didn’t want us to talk about the investigation, she shouldn’t have said anything to Lailah.

  Kane gave me a slight warning glance. “Did she tell you what happened today?”

  “Something about an angel passing out in the shadows.” She eyed me, and I had the suspicion she could read my mind. She’d been able to before when a spell had gone wrong, but as far as I knew that particular ability had faded away.

  “Right,” Kane said. “She was attacked, and we’re going to investigate. Chessandra doesn’t want to risk any more of her angels getting hurt.”

  Lailah never took her eyes from me while Kane was talking. “There’s more going on.”

  I nodded. I couldn’t help it. After being able to read my mind, Lailah understood my nonverbal communication better than most people did. “Yes, but we’ve been ordered to not say anything about it.”

  She frowned. “Well, in that case, I won’t press you. But this does make my job harder. Will you tell me if there’s anything I need to know? Like if a demon is on the loose? I have souls to protect.” Her eyes met mine. “Including yours.”

  Lailah was my soul guardian and she took her job very seriously. Unlike my last guardian, she wasn’t going to let a demon get my soul. Not on her watch. I didn’t know how to answer that, so I just nodded. If the shit hit the fan, we’d probably need all the help we could get, no matter what Chessandra had said. Not to mention Lailah was one of my most trusted friends.

  “Okay. So you’re going to investigate the shadows now. Can you call me after you’re done?” she asked.

  “Sure,” I said, despite the warning glare Kane was giving me. Ever since he’d become a demon hunter, he’d taken honoring his word to a whole new level. If he wasn’t supposed to talk about a mission, he wouldn’t. That was fine for him. But I wasn’t going to leave my friends in the dark if I thought they were in danger. I doubted he would either, but he’d rather not make promises he couldn’t keep. I, on the other hand, hadn’t exactly promised anything. I’d been given orders I didn’t agree with and hadn’t had a chance to compromise.

  “Thanks.” She grabbed the lemonade bottle and gave us a short nod before heading back out the front door.

  After we heard the door close with a soft click, Kane nodded toward the door. “She wasn’t just in the area, was she?”

  “Maybe. But we both know that’s not why she stopped by.” She’d come in person because she knew she was being left in the dark and wanted to see my reaction. She had what she needed now.

  He nodded. “I suppose we do. That’s what makes her good at her job.”

  “And now it’s time for us to get to work.” I moved to stand in front of him and slipped my arms around his waist. “Ready to go see some strippers?”

  He chuckled. “I’d rather watch you strip.”

  I laughed. “I bet you would.”

  Chapter 3

  Kane and I stood outside Wicked, the strip club he owned, staring at the patrons waiting to get in. They were lined up down the block and around the corner.

  “What the heck is going on in there?” I asked. “You’re not having an event night, are you?” Every now and then the club hosted theme parties, such as bachelorette night, or cowgirl night, or even dominatrix night, but the draw was never this good.

  “No. Not that I’m aware of.” Kane tightened his hold on my hand and led me to the front door. A couple of drunken assholes protested until someone else recognized us and shouted for them to shut up. Kane ignored them all. He nodded to the bouncer as we slid past him into the packed club.

  My body came alive with familiar lust as soon as we crossed the threshold. Kane’s fresh rain scent intensified, overwhelming me. He stopped half a step in front of me, his shoulder muscles rippling deliciously beneath his form-fitting cotton shirt. My pulse quickened as my body lit with electric desire. I moved forward and instinctively pressed my body up against Kane, needing to touch him. Raising my free arm, I trailed my hand down his neck and fixated on his lips as I ached to kiss him.

  “Jade,” Kane said carefully. “What are you doing?” His tone held a note of confusion.

  I glanced up into his searching eyes and then stepped back, shaking my head. I wasn’t in the habit of throwing myself at him in the middle of his club. “I…” Swallowing, I took another step back, trying to put distance between us. His incubus allure was in full effect. “You might want to rein the magic in.”

  He frowned. “What are you talking about?”

  I grabbed his hand and tugged him through the lust-filled crowd. The patrons—men and women alike—as well as the dancers and employees, paused to watch him. As we neared his office, he stopped and scanned the crowd. They collectively moved toward us.

  “Inside,” I commanded and yanked him through the doorway. The door slammed closed with a satisfying click.

  “Jade—” he started.

  “Wait,” I said. “Do you not even know you’re doing it?”

  “Doing what?”

  I threw my hands up. “Stop being so dense. Your incubus allure is affecting not just me, but everyone in the club. The electricity in there is off the charts.”

  He jerked back in surprise at my words. “I’m not putting anything out there.”

  “But…” I tilted my head to the side and really studied him. He was tall and dark-haired with rich chocolate-brown eyes, a chiseled face, and a narrowed waist. Freakin’ gorgeous. Ever since Kane had been turned into an incubus, his already good looks had somehow turned him into something resembling a Greek god. There was no denying practically everyone who met him was awed by his mere presence.

  “What do you see, love?” Kane asked.

  “Just you. You’re right. No incubus energy in sight.” I sat on the edge of his desk and thought that through. His incubus energy had hit me full-force as soon as we’d walked through the door. The place was overcharged with his sexual energy. That made no sense whatsoever. Kane didn’t even spend that much time at the club these days. Charlie was the manager, and Kane came in during the day to help with the admin side of things.

  “Wait here,” I said and moved toward the door.

  “Where are you going?”

  “Just out into the club. I’ll be right back.” Slipping through the door, I deliberately closed it behind me. The incubus allure tingled down my spine, making me sway with pent-up sexual energy. “Holy shit.”

  Kane’s energy was filtering through the club, charging everyone with more than they bargained for. I steeled myself, trying to shake off the sensation. But since everything about Kane excited me, it wasn’t exactly working. A sheen of sweat coated my face as I heated from the inside out.

  “Jade?” a familiar voice called over the music.

  I spun, nearly running directly into Charlie. “Oh, hey. I was looking for you.”

  Her lips twisted into a sexy half smile as she ran her hand down my bare arm. Ripples of pleasure coated my skin making me shiver. “Well, you’ve found me. What can I do for you, gorgeous?”

&nbs
p; I stared at her, transfixed by the connection.

  She chuckled.

  Her laugh ripped me from the lust-state that made me stupid, and I shook my head, clearing my brain fog. “How long has it been like this?”

  She glanced around the club. “Like what?”

  “Uh, a line wrapped around the block and everyone so hopped up on pheromones the place feels more like a sex club than a strip club.”

  “Oh, that.” She laughed. “It started last night. I thought you guys put a spell on the place or something. If so, it’s cool and all, but I had to call in extra help to keep the fiends watered.” Jabbing her head toward the bar, she pointed at two extra servers. “You’re saying it isn’t a spell?”

  I shook my head. “At least not one either of us knew about.”

  “Damn.” Charlie glanced around the club and then shivered. “That’s kind of creepy.”

  “Yeah,” I agreed. “Well, there’s nothing to do about it now. Maybe we should ask Kane what he wants to do.”

  She eyed the group of men crowding the stage. So far, they were keeping their distance from the dancer. “I’ll call in extra muscle just in case.”

  “Good idea.” I nodded toward the office. “Kane and I can’t stay, but if anything goes down that you don’t like, give Pyper a call. She’ll know what to do.”

  “You got it.” She leaned in for a quick hug, but stopped and held up her hands in a surrender motion. “Maybe not tonight.”

  I chuckled. “Maybe not.”

  The battle to fight Kane’s incubus energy was a real struggle. My senses became fuzzy and all I wanted to do was go back into that office and climb on top of him. Get a grip, Jade. I stood at the door, holding the handle for at least a full minute, trying to erect my glass silo in order to block out everything around me.

  Finally, when the walls slid into place, I took a deep breath and retreated back into the office.