It was a sticky situation and one that I’d hoped to avoid, but if I was being honest, yes, the poor girl was a bit careless with certain aspects of her appearance. Still, I did have to disagree with Louise that this alone might keep her from getting dates. I just didn’t want to have to say anything and start our own mini-war between the witches.
“I’ve got to wonder,” she said, gazing out the window in a way that made me think she was deliberately avoiding looking me in the eye. “How often do you think the universe makes a huge mistake?”
“Is that a rhetorical question or are we going to get philosophical?” I asked, keeping most of the sarcasm out of my voice. That certainly wasn’t the direction I’d expected her to take and I wasn’t sure where it was headed.
Donna shook her head and bit her lip. “What I mean is… Take a look at Bogie. He was never truly a Discordant and through some fluke, he became one of us… I think. I actually can’t figure out what happened, but that’s not the point…”
Donna was rambling. That in itself was enough to know she was nervous, but she was also pacing and had, despite her best efforts to remain mindful, already chewed her thumbnail down to the quick. I was starting to see the point she was trying to make
“…and then there’s Mort,” she continued, oblivious to my worry. “No one can accuse him of being a good guy, that’s for sure, but he’s got so much invested in this world that I don’t think he’s in good standing with the demons at the moment. Weird how that works out.”
“What are you getting at, Donna?” I asked at last. Not that I had to ask. The next words out of her mouth were about what I was expecting.
“Clyde is being punished for speaking to me. Apparently since I can’t give him a child, dad sees his time with me as a waste.”
“Donna,” I began, measuring my words carefully. “You haven’t had meaningful sleep in some time. I don’t think the incubus is lying, necessarily…”
From everything that I knew about the incubi, it made perfect sense for the house head to expect his underlings to use their time siring heirs.
“I know!” she said with a frustrated sigh. “That’s just it. I’ve tried explaining that he’s just causing me trouble and he acts like that’s all my fault for not being a virgin. I accused him of just trying to get me to open the portal and he claims that even if I did, he can’t come through.”
I hadn’t really thought of it, but she was right. The incubi have no physical form and are incapable of possession. They would have to have a body built and as far as I knew, the spell required to bring them over was in advance of anything even Donna was capable of, which was only slightly reassuring.
“Okay, but Donna, what makes you think that this guy is acting like an anomaly? He is still siring heirs even if he’s coming into your dreams. You’re correct that he can’t come through the portal, but he certainly isn’t acting in a way that makes me think he has anyone’s best interest in mind but his own.”
“That’s just it,” she said, falling heavily onto the sofa. “I think… I think he’s infatuated with me and he can’t move on. I also think… I also think he’s the reason for my… You know he and I can’t actually…”
As she stammered, Donna’s cheeks turned beet red. I’m not sure mine were different. I cared for Donna, certainly. I’d helped raise her, which is the exact reason why I wasn’t comfortable with where the conversation was going.
“The reason you’re having trouble getting dates?” I prompted, hoping she’d keep the conversation PG.
“Yeah,” she said at last, reaching to scratch at a blemish on her cheek before catching herself. “Please don’t get me wrong. It’s not like I want the attention. I mean, I want some attention, but I’m hoping for human attention from a guy who-”
“I got it,” I said, cutting her off with a voice pitched slightly higher than usual. “Donna, I’m not going to lie to you. I know what Louise and Betty think.”
“And you agree,” she said, shoulders slumping.
“Actually, no,” I said, surprising her. “I mean, without saying anything rude, Donna, you’re a bartender at the Five Penny. You’ve seen the best and worst Blackbird has to offer and there are, forgive me for saying, some people who seem to have a disregard for certain things… hygienic things… that would be considered social norms…”
I cringed. I didn’t like the judgmental words coming out of my mouth, but if I was being honest, it was true.
“See! That’s what I’m saying. I’m cursed.”
“Well, I wouldn’t go that far,” I began, but she cut me off by jumping up. I didn’t like the smug smile she wore.
“No, you’re absolutely right,” she said, leaning down to briefly squeeze me in a half hug before heading for the door. “I’m going to find a way to do something about it.”
“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” I asked, scrambling to follow.
“Don’t worry, Seth,” she said with a smile that was anything but reassuring. “I’m going to figure this out, one way or another.”
She was in her car and speeding away before I had a chance to form any kind of a warning. I had a sinking feeling that I’d only made the situation worse.
Chapter 6
Incubus-ted
Donna sat in the driver’s seat of the custom-built Formula One racecar, hands gripping the wheel in intense concentration as she inched closer to the car in front of her. This was it. This was the moment she lived for. With her adrenaline in overdrive, she feinted left, but the other driver anticipated her move and went right.
“Sneaky bastard,” she muttered, switching gears and easing onto the brake. After putting some distance between her and the other car, she recalculated her next move, keeping an eye on its movements for just a fraction of a second more. When she felt she had confused the other driver enough, she brought her foot down hard on the gas, throwing the car into a lower gear to speed past. She laughed, drinking in the confusion that she felt would be present on the other driver’s face were it not for the darkened helmet, but as she did, she let her guard down and lost control of the vehicle. Suddenly, the world became a dizzying blur as she began to spin out of control.
Time slowed down the closer Donna’s car got to the concrete wall that surrounded the track. This was bad. This was very bad. She tried everything she’d learned about racing. She steered into the skid. She slowly applied pressure to the brakes. Nothing worked. Just as the bumper reached the wall, time sped back up and Donna’s car crashed through the concrete barrier, sending chunks of cinder block flying in all directions as she continued to spin, her momentum uninterrupted by the crash.
“Well now! It is about time! I was beginning to think that you weren’t even trying to bring me back in.”
Clyde stood, naked as ever, holding two checkered flags amid the dust and debris that used to be Donna’s personal dream racetrack.
“I… What?” She shook her head as the scene dissolved and a picturesque park appeared. “How did you get in here?”
“That’s a good question, isn’t it? You need to be more careful!”
“Me?”
“Yes, Donna, you! Someone has been slipping you a sleeping draught. A strong one at that! I’ve not been able to come visit you for two full sleep cycles.”
Donna’s fingers went reflexively to her temples. Apparently, she noted with some dismay, just because she was dreaming, didn’t mean she was immune to headaches.
“No one has been slipping me anything, Clyde. I took the sleeping draught to keep you away.”
The look of absolute horror and hurt that Clyde wore nearly broke Donna’s defenses, but she remained strong.
“You don’t wish to see me anymore?”
“I miss sleeping, Clyde,” she replied, but discovered, much to her dismay, that her words had difficulty coming out around the lump that was forming in her throat.
“Did you not miss me?”
“Not fair,” she said with a sharp glare, though t
he emotional thickness of her voice betrayed her intent.
“So you did miss me!” The utter glee in the incubus’ voice was too much.
“Clyde, please,” she begged, turning away before the incubus could see the truth written all over her face. “Your being here is not doing either of us any favors. Why don’t you leave?”
For several heartbeats, Donna heard nothing. When the scenery disappeared, she was shocked. Clyde had actually done what she’d asked. So why did she feel awful? She sniffed, wiping away the tear that leaked despite her stoic thoughts.
“I knew it!”
She whipped around fast. The incubus stood staring at her, relief and something else painted across his finely chiseled features.
“Knew… w-what?” she asked, blinking away the remaining tears and taking a deep breath.
“I knew that you cared about me as much as I care about you. You don’t really want me to go away.”
“Clyde,” Donna said with a sigh, but he silenced her by coming forward to sweep her into his embrace.
“No, don’t say it Donna,” he hushed her with a finger to the lips. “Nothing is impossible. If we were meant to be together, nothing will stop us. True love will find a way.”
“Wait, are you saying that you lo-uh-whoa!”
Before Donna could finish her question, the floor fell out from under her and she tumbled from Clyde’s arms. As she fell, Clyde was pulled further away until a portal opened, bathing their void in a blinding white light. As he was sucked away, she caught a glimpse of the last man she expected to see in her dreams.
Her father.
Fa Be’yoh was just as formidable as ever and he was not happy.
* * *
“Gah!”
I found myself on the floor. Not just on the floor, but tangled up so tightly in my sheets that I managed to creep myself out by imagining a giant spider coming to snack on me. I was really getting sick of these violent awakenings. Somehow, I had managed to not only fall out of my bed (something I’m sure most people over the age of five have no difficulty with), but I also managed to do so in a way that pulled down the blackout curtains, so my room was flooded with midday sun. Well, that explained the bright light and the falling. At least no one was around to witness my spectacular display of coordination.
“Donna? Are you okay?”
Or not…
Betty’s blurry form entered my line of site.
“What are you doing home?”
“I’m headed to an anti-fracking rally this afternoon and figured showing up covered in flour and icing was probably a bad idea.” She picked up the curtain rod and placed it back on the hooks, for which I was extremely grateful. “So what happened?”
“I fell out of bed.”
“Obviously,” she said and rolled her eyes. “I mean why? I thought Arkady super-powered my sleeping draught.”
“Yeah, he did,” I said, wriggling my way out of the sheets to sit up slowly. I had a nasty lump on my forehead where the curtain rod brained me. “It worked for all of two days. One minute I’m back in my favorite Formula One dream and the next, Clyde shows up and goes all Rhett Butler on me.”
“He what?”
“He was all like, how could I keep him out? And don’t I care?”
Betty narrowed her eyes at me.
“You’ve never seen Gone with the Wind, have you?”
“No,” I admitted, rolling my eyes. “But I’ve seen the movie poster and that’s what he did, he was all dramatic and then just as he was telling me that he loved me, the floor fell out and I woke up.”
“He what?” Betty shrieked.
“Shush!” I groaned as the sound pierced through my already abused brain and reignited the flames of my raging headache.
“Sorry,” Betty whispered. “But seriously, what is this about love?”
“It’s no big deal,” I said. This was not a conversation I wanted to be having at the moment. Or ever, really.
“Donna, this guy managed to get through a powerful potion and now he’s manipulating you! I’d call that a pretty big deal.”
“He’s not manipulating me!”
“Really.” Betty’s voice was as flat as the look she gave me. “What would you call it then?”
“He’s… I don’t know… obsessed? Maybe he thinks it’s love or maybe he’s really in love, but I know that he’s not trying to manipulate me because he’s been forbidden from seeing me. He was caught tonight, by my dad. I have no idea if he’ll even be back.”
I didn’t mean for the disappointment to come through, but it was as plain as the bright red color that now covered my cheeks.
“Oh my goddess! Donna! Please tell me you are not seriously falling for this guy.”
“What? No!” I said automatically and cringed because it totally sounded like I was trying to hide something by answering too quickly. From the look she gave me, it was clear Betty thought so as well. “Betty, I’m serious! And besides, not that I am, but what would it matter? It’s not like I’d be the first to have it bad for a Discordant,” I said, looking pointedly at her.
“Hubert’s not a Discordant anymore and you can’t pretend like you ever believed he was a proper demon anyway,” she shot back. “But that don’t matter. I’m not a Nyx and even with his new powers, Hubert can’t get into my head.”
“Alright, fine, but I’m totally not falling for this guy. I mean, yeah, I’m kind of frustrated and when he shows up with everything flapping in the breeze… I get a little… anyway. Lust isn’t love. It’s not even like.”
“Yeah, but Donna, it can be just as dangerous.”
There was a note of warning in her tone. Given some of her past disasters, Betty would know about the dangers of lust, but there was a huge difference between falling for a guy who was a physical threat and one who had no physical form.
“Okay yeah, but at least we know he’s not trying to get me to open the portal. That’s something, right?”
“Not really.”
“Huh?”
“Ugh!” Betty threw up her hands and went to her own room to grab clean clothes. “Donna, think about it. It’s like, classic reverse psychology.”
“But he can’t get through the portal even if I open it!”
“All right, look, yelling isn’t going to solve anything,” she said with a sad look, almost as if she felt bad for me. It was as embarrassing as it was infuriating. “I’ll look into ways to banish an incubus. I mean, there’s got to be something. Have you tried dating anyone lately?”
I glared at her. “Do you see the line of suitors out there?” I asked, waving my hand at the nonexistent crowd of men who were vying for my attention. “Before you say anything, I’ve been… careful about my… habits. But Betty, it’s only gotten worse since the token. It’s like I don’t even exist to the men of Blackbird.”
“Well, maybe you should take a vacation,” she suggested.
I snorted, but apparently, she was serious. “Wait, really?”
“Donna, Blackbird’s kind of a shallow gene pool and you grew up here. Most of the dateable guys are friends of yours. Don’t sell yourself short.”
“I guarantee you, it’s not just guys in Blackbird. And besides,” I added on a serious note, “It’s probably not a good idea to leave town with the end of the world coming.”
“Good point,” she said with a grimace. “Wanna come try to put a stop to the end of the world?” she asked with a hopeful smile.
“No thanks.” I couldn’t stop myself from feeling a small pang of guilt. As an earth witch, I was obviously opposed to fracking and the impact it had on the environment, to say nothing of the weakening of the wall between the realms. But I knew, and Betty did too, that standing around on the courthouse lawn with a bunch of well-meaning but unorganized hippies and college students while some stoned old geezer shouted incoherently through a megaphone wasn’t going to help solve anything. “I think I’m going to pay Harry a visit.”
“Harry?” She gave
me a weird look, as though she thought I was nuts. I probably was. “You know you can’t exorcize an incubus, right?”
“Maybe,” I said with a shrug. “But I’m trying to keep an open mind. Not just about this, but you know, if we all end up working together. Remember the stories Seth told us? About the mystics who were sabotaging each other during World War Two. I don’t want to end up in a situation like that, so let’s just say it’s a social call. If he happens to have any incubus repellant lying around then, hey, bonus.”
“Well, good luck then,” she said, still wearing the expression that told me she thought I was crazy. Perhaps I was, but I still felt like I was making the right move.
I thought about that on my way out to the church. Of all the people in Blackbird who knew anything about who and what I really was, Desmond and Harry were probably the least trusting and most likely to expect me to massively screw up and bring about Armageddon. Yet, for some reason, I had a soft spot for the two cantankerous old coots. I had to wonder if there wasn’t some significance to that.
I had to laugh at myself. A couple of days ago, mom had warned me to keep an eye out for changes and she specifically said not to ignore our gut feelings. Ever since then, I’d been questioning whether or not everything from my choice to change breakfast cereals to a shift in weather was some kind of a sign. No, the fact that I was fond of Harry and Desmond said more about my own stubbornness than anything else.
I parked the Beast at the bottom of the hill and thanked my lucky stars that it wasn’t raining. She makes a lot of noise and I didn’t want to alert the clergy that I was coming up there. Last time I ran into one of the priests, he spent an hour trying to save my soul from imminent damnation. Admittedly, that was half my own fault. If he hadn’t been young and hot, I probably wouldn’t have gotten trapped in the fruitless conversation. Given my own problems, I couldn’t even begin to fathom why someone would choose a life of celibacy on their own. Talk about a waste of high cheekbones and clear skin!
Rise of the Discordant: The Complete Five Book Series Page 59
