“How do you kill an incubus?” Aaron asked.
“You can’t.” She pointed her cigar toward us, sending gray ash raining to the dirt. “If you try, it’ll explode into acid, burning through the floor and earth until it reaches the nearest source of groundwater, and then it’ll travel upstream and through pipes.”
I stood as the implications of her words hit home. “Which would make the pipes burst. The first time I saw the incubus was at my apartment. He attacked me, ran around in circles, and burst into acid. Later that night, the pipes came apart in Zeezee’s apartment. Meaning that’s where the incubus probably went next.”
Nancy’s brows rose. “An incubus is like one of those missiles that latch onto one target. The demon arrived looking like my brother and attempted to have sex with Zeezee and her mate—”
The van door swung open again, and Zeezee leaned out, glaring. “The incubus was after Zane. I’ve been trying to tell you since you arrived. He came as her brother and approached me while I was having sex with Zane and a fae woman, and then abruptly walked away. He tried three more times, and then the people started tearing each other apart. One of the humans ripped out my earring. Another one tried to rip off Zane’s ring. That’s when he changed and fled. I managed to push my way out with one earring on when Nancy drove up to the party. She was going to go in, but I explained what happened. I jumped in the car with her, and we ran to get supplies. By the time we got back, everyone was dead.”
“The demon went after Zane and you, specifically?” I asked. “And it kept going after you. It could still be trying to kill you, and you’re going to go put on a sex show for it?”
“Nope.” Nancy puffed on her cigar. “The incubus has changed targets. We tried to use Zeezee as bait, and the incubus had absolutely no interest in her. He was probably trying to touch Zane so he could impersonate him.”
“Shit,” I whispered, as realization smacked into me. “Zane was supposed to have sex with the queen of the fae at that party. The incubus was going to impersonate Zane and have sex with the queen.”
Nancy’s jaw dropped, and she let out a groan. “Your sister forgot to mention that detail. Damn it. It all makes sense now. This was a political hit. From what I understand, fae royalty are almost impossible to kill. A full feeding from an incubus would kill just about anything.”
I’d suspected that Nancy was behind the note to the queen. It was the one thing that didn’t add up after hearing her story. From the shock in her reaction, it seemed we had two parties with the foreknowledge that shit was going to go down that night. Unfortunately, I couldn’t lay blame on Nancy or my sister for any part of the massacre. Someone had gone to great lengths to kill Queen Titania and frame my pack for it. Nancy and Zeezee were right. We needed to find whoever was responsible for this before it was too late.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Lance
I was just about to snap. My brothers, Scarlet, and Mack sat in a circle in the living room.
“Are you fucking kidding me?” I asked. I jerked around to glare at the group, making the raw skin of my healing neck wound scream out in pain. “You three want to do what?”
When Scarlet had asked for what she called a “family meeting,” I’d been a little charmed by the idea. Family meeting. It brought to mind the image of kids sitting around the table with Scarlet, my brothers and me. Yeah, Mack was in the image too, whether I wanted him there or not.
What the sweet image did not include was Scarlet, Mack, and my stupid brother proposing that they do a live sex show in front of an audience at a seedy strip club. Well, the proposition was that Mack and Scarlet do the show while Aaron watched.
“This is a joke, right?” I growled as Scarlet leveled me with her gaze.
She sat between Mack and Aaron. Mack had an arm around her back while Aaron wrapped a hand around her knee, both silently showing their support.
Darrel leaned forward on his elbows. “Scarlet, I need to understand. Why would you do this?”
Scarlet swallowed hard, her gaze darting between us. She licked her lips, seeming uncharacteristically nervous. “I know this is a decision that we need to make together, all of us. We need to trap this demon and figure out who framed my pack in the assassination attempt against the queen before my packmates start dying. The hunt is on, and after the fae attack yesterday, I know for a fact that my pack will be wiped out. I’m not letting my sister do this for me. My pack. My responsibility.”
Darrel nodded slowly. I was about to tell her how not fucking okay I was with her reasoning when my brother said, “I’m going to be honest with you, baby. I don’t have a problem with your decision so much as I have a problem with the reason you’re doing it. I’m not going to stop you, but the idea of you having sex in front of a crowd for the sake of your pack doesn’t sit right with me. That doesn’t seem like consent to me, and I’m never going to say I’m okay with that.”
Scarlet nodded. “Yeah, I know. That’s what I told Zeezee when she announced that she wanted to do it. Now it’s confession time.” Scarlet bit her lip, her gaze darting between us, and damn if the honey scent of her arousal didn’t fill the room. Her cheeks flushed, and I could see the barest shadow of her nipples poking through her shirt.
The anger in me simmered as my wolf surged forward, filling me with a very different feeling.
When Scarlet didn’t say anything for a moment, Darrel prompted, “Yeah?” His voice was a low growl, and I couldn’t help but notice his dark blue eyes beginning to glow. “You wanted to tell us something?”
She squirmed, rubbing her knees together. Raking in a long breath, she whispered, “Okay, yeah. Ever since this one time when Mack and I snuck under the bleachers at our high school to make out, and we were so close to getting caught, I’ve had this fantasy. It got even more detailed when I climbed up on Darrel and made out with him naked in public.”
As she spoke, the scent of her arousal thickened, calling to my wolf until I found myself leaning toward her. Absently, as if even she didn’t know she was doing it, Scarlet’s hand slipped between her thighs, not quite touching herself but close. “I guess I’ve always had a forbidden fantasy of being watched by strangers. But I know how wrong that is, and I can’t really think of a circumstance in which it’s okay to have public sex.”
“Except this one,” Darrel whispered in that same husky voice. “You don’t feel like you’re being forced to do this?”
Her breath stuttered. “It feels safer to say I’m doing it to protect my pack and my sister, but the truth is, I’d want to do it regardless.”
We all sat there, watching her slide her hand up to cup herself while biting her lip.
Fuck.
Seeing her whole body come alive at the fantasy, I wanted to give it to her. Unfortunately, I wasn’t turned on by the idea of public sex in the slightest. Tantalizing her with the possibility of getting caught by one of my brothers was as far as I would go, but that was a very different situation. It was clear Scarlet wanted this, though, and I found my anger at the idea extinguishing.
“It might be different in the club than it is in your fantasies, Scarlet,” Darrel pointed out, his eyes still glowing. “What if you get out there, and you don’t want to do this anymore? Are you going to feel like you have to go through with it?”
She bit her lip again and shook her head. “I wouldn’t go along with anything I don’t want to do. But I’m pretty sure I’ll still want to do it.”
Mack pulled her hair from behind her back and smoothed it down over one shoulder. “Close your eyes and imagine being there.”
His voice was firm, but it didn’t tip over the edge toward commanding. Her gaze darted around to each of us, as if asking if we were okay with the enactment. I had no idea what the others were thinking at this point, but I wasn’t complaining.
Scarlet’s chest heaved as her eyes slipped closed.
Mack leaned into her ear and whispered, but I could hear every word. He described a strip club, maki
ng the scene accurate and not skating over the seedier side of the Full Moon. He detailed the other dancers and their places on the stage. All through his description, the sweet scent of her arousal thickened in the air.
From beside her, Aaron wrapped his hand around Scarlet’s wrist and guided her from over her pants to under the waistband. She didn’t need any more encouragement than his gentle guidance. Her hand buried itself in her yoga pants. She spread her legs, and her fingers rubbed under the fabric as Mack continued whispering details into her ear.
Inside my jeans, I could feel the head of my cock tingling as my shaft hardened. I tried to adjust myself, so my erection wouldn’t show, but Scarlet’s other hand slipped under her shirt and cupped her breast, exposing both of her round, perfect mounds.
I couldn’t fucking take it anymore. Standing, I turned for my room before hesitating. Scarlet was my mate, and this was something she wanted. After a moment, I stepped up to the woman who’d stolen every ounce of my common sense.
“Scarlet,” I growled as I stood before her.
Her eyelids opened, gaze heavy with lust.
“I think you three made your point. Do you want to come to my room with me, and I can finish what you started?”
Without a second’s pause, she nodded, her hands slipping off her body and reaching out to me. “Take me.”
The moment I scooped her up, she molded against me, wrapping her legs around my waist.
“And I’ll be in the bathroom,” Mack said, as he jumped off the couch.
“My room,” Aaron said.
I ignored them and walked toward my bedroom while staring up at my beautiful mate, knowing that she wanted to be with me in this moment. She might have plans with Aaron and Mack tonight, plans I had no intention of getting in the way of, but until then, I was showing Scarlet just how much I wanted her happiness.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Mack
I stopped Lance’s van before the entrance of Cutten Steps and rolled down my window, waiting for the disembodied voice to ask me where I was heading. The van hummed, expelling fumes even while stationary. My gaze fixed on the dashboard, seeing that the vehicle had already burned through more than a gallon of gasoline.
“Do you want me to drive, Mack?” Zeezee asked from the front seat as she glared over. “I can practically hear you internally dying every time you look at the gas gage.”
Leaning back in my seat, I glanced over at Scarlet’s sister. When Zeezee had first entered our school a year behind Scarlet and me, I’d thought the similarity between sisters was uncanny. Now, I couldn’t even see a resemblance. Their heart-shaped faces, lips, and big eyes were the same shape, but their energy couldn’t be more dissimilar. “You know what’s the biggest difference between you and your sister?”
Zeezee aimed a mocking smile my way. “Public opinion?”
“You’re both good at reading people,” I said. “But she uses it to make sure everyone feels comfortable, while you use it to hurt wherever and whoever you can.”
I could tell from the twist of her lips that my statement hit home, but I felt no satisfaction with it. Zeezee was a fucked-up person who caused Scarlet no end of grief, but Scarlet loved her.
A disembodied voice asked who I was here to visit. When I answered, a door opened in the cliffside. Throwing the van into gear, I pulled into the elevator and glanced back to see it closing behind the van.
“You know,” Zeezee said after a few seconds. “That’s pretty fucking funny coming from you.”
She clearly wanted me to ask her for clarification, but I wasn’t interested, so I just waited for the door to open at the top of the cliff before I threw the van into drive again.
“Out of everyone, I feel sorriest for you, Mack,” Zeezee said after a second.
“I thank you for your pity,” I said dryly.
“I really do.” She leaned far enough into the dashboard that I’d have to ignore Zeezee to avoid her gaze. “You and Scar have been in love for how long now? Zane told me that you two were pretty much a couple all along, and Scarlet was just going through the motions with him. Like, maybe he’s the one who cheated, and everyone hates us for it, but he was only a convenient shield Scarlet shoved between you two. She could give a fuck about Zane.”
“He didn’t deserve her,” I said.
“We did you both a favor,” Zeezee said. “We took away her shield. And she finally lets you get close, right? But she starts fucking three other dudes along with you.”
“What’s your point?” I gritted out. She had a point, though. I couldn’t deny that. I’d been waiting for Scarlet to clue me in ever since her first true mate mark appeared. The fact was, I was on borrowed time. We both knew she couldn’t deny her true mates. I would never have that bond with her.
“The point is, here you are,” Zeezee said. “Still. You’re going to fuck Scarlet in front of a crowd of assholes just because she gets off on voyeurism.”
“Maybe I do, too,” I said.
“Nah.” Zeezee shrugged one shoulder. “You get off on making my sister happy.”
I shook my head, but for some reason, I had a hard time meeting her eyes. “There’s nothing wrong with wanting to make someone else happy,” I said. “Maybe you should try it sometime.”
“Not at the expense of making myself happy.”
“It’s not at the expense of my own happiness,” I said. “I don’t have a problem with having an audience, so I don’t see how it matters.”
“It matters because you’ve spent years acting like the best fucking boyfriend on earth to my sister, but she’s still jerking you around. She’s never going to stop because as much as my sister is in love with you, she cares about what everyone thinks of her. No, she cares about what she thinks everyone thinks of her. We all accepted your relationship years ago.”
“Glad to hear it.”
Zeezee sighed. “Maybe I’m a bitch, and Scar is a saint, but at least I’m not a liar who strings my partners along. They know what they’re getting from me. I don’t mess with their heads—or their hearts. Look what you’ve already lost for her. Do you really think you and Scarlet are going to live happily ever after when this is over? You’re smarter than that, Macklin.”
Slamming on the brakes, I squealed into Oxonos’ driveway. The van jerked to a stop and shuddered. Not having any response, I threw open the door and jumped out. A peel of laughter came out of the horrid woman, and I quickly closed the van door, muffling the sound.
Damn her. Damn Zeezee.
The girl reveled in biting the hand that fed her, taking advantage of Scarlet in every way she could get away with. I couldn’t take anything Zeezee said at face value. She wanted her sister’s unhappiness, as if that would somehow validate something. There was absolutely no point in letting her get to me. My thoughts soothed my anger as I crossed to the front of Oxonos’ home and knocked on his heavy wooden door.
No one answered, and it took me a moment to realize why. I was supposed to stay in the van and call the man.
I made sure that my phone was to my ear as I reentered the van, signaling to Zeezee that I wasn’t interested in continuing our conversation. After three rings, the garage door to the house opened, and I pulled in alongside an Ecomarion. My Ecomarion.
As Zeezee and I opened our doors, so did the doors of my former car. Naveen grinned at me from the front seat of my SUV.
“Sweet wheels, brother,” he said, bobbing his eyebrows. “Are you driving around a kid’s soccer team? Because with your driving record, I don’t think a job in transportation is the right career for you.”
“Don’t get too used to my Ecomarion,” I said as I hopped out. “I’m taking my car back as soon as the queen’s anger cools.”
“So…next century?” He came around the SUV just as Summer, Winter, and Autumn exited the other doors.
The garage was dim, but I could see the grim expressions on all the fae princes’ faces, including my brother, Marius. The men looked a little odd in
tailored suits as I was so used to seeing them in armor at my mother’s side. Only Naveen wore ripped jeans and a t-shirt, looking a bit like a rock star.
“Who’s in the van?” Autumn said as he crossed his arms over his wide chest. “I thought you were coming alone.”
“I was.” Taking in a steadying breath, I admitted, “That’s Scarlet’s sister. She volunteered to come with me to tell you guys and Oxonos the full truth of what happened at that party.”
“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” Winter said in a quiet voice as he reached for the car, probably going back for his weapon stash.
A gust of wind pushed through us, and the car door slammed shut, just missing Winter’s hand. Winter spun. “Not fucking funny, Naveen. You could have taken off my hand.”
My curly-haired brother shrugged like he could care less about earning the ire of the deadliest fae south of the Canadian winter forests. “I love you, man, and I don’t want to have to fight you. Fact is, though, no one draws a weapon on my little brother if I can help it.”
Autumn raised his hands. “We’re not making an aggressive move, but I think we deserve an explanation. The queen firmly believes that Zeezee Riley conspired to have her assassinated. We’ve spent the better part of this week hunting that werewolf down, but she’s been hiding out in a house surrounded in iron spikes.”
“You know something else is going on here, Autumn. If you didn’t, you wouldn’t have tracked us in the forest to ask about the creature who attacked at dinner.”
“Can I come out now?” Zeezee yelled as she leaned across the console.
I spun. “These guys are a little jumpy, which is understandable considering they think you’re responsible for a massacre. Could you do your best to act... ” I tried to think of a polite way to say it, couldn’t think of anything, and went with, “Could you please not get yourself killed?”
She threw up her hands. “I didn’t have to come. I’m here to save my pack, okay?”
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