by C. M. Owens
Ella has been taken underground with Alyssa until the time has come and gone for the portal to be opened. If they can’t find her, they can’t use her.
Everyone has relaxed... Except for one person.
Chaz is furious as he paces the room, running a hand through his hair. He’s been like a caged animal since Kya disappeared. She knows about Alyssa’s pregnancy. I know she overheard it when she came to save my life that day—the day I found out I had to rip out horrible souls and devour them.
What she doesn’t know, is that Alyssa’s baby has left her completely defenseless. And Chaz couldn’t tell her that. Wouldn’t tell her where Alyssa is or why she’s in hiding.
My hands slide over my own flat stomach, wondering how strong my demon succubus or incubus will be. I already feel a little more tired than usual, but not drained like Alyssa felt by this point.
“She fucking chose him!” Chaz barks, furious.
He’s said the same thing numerous times for the past two days now. It’s driving us all insane.
“If my baby’s first words are ‘she fucking chose him’ I’m going to make you want me,” Dice tells him, pointing a finger in his direction. “I’m going to make you want me like you’ve never wanted anyone. I may even make you buy me fucking roses and woo me like a wooing zombie.”
“What kind of threat is that?” I muse, finding myself smiling.
It’s his favorite thing to do—defuse a volatile situation with humor.
“It’s the kind of threat no heterosexual male ever wants to hear,” he says, winking over at me.
“Any chance you’re into that? Because a three-way would be—”
“I don’t fucking share, woman!” he says, glaring at me. My stomach flutters, which is insane to say after so many months. I’m grinning like an idiot too.
As an incubus, he’s shared plenty of times, but I know I’m his and his alone. Just like he’s mine. We can joke and say whatever, but at the end of the day, it’s only the two of us.
“Hashtag—sharing is caring,” I goad him, laughing when he scowls.
“I don’t fucking care about much,” he says, pointing a finger at me. “Don’t steal my hashtags.”
He drops to his knees as Chaz continues to stalk and sulk. As Dice runs his hands over my stomach, my head somehow goes to Kya. She’s my twin. She spent too long in slavery—too long being tortured in the name of mad scientists. She’s shoved a wall between us, but I see the longing in her eyes that she tries to hide.
She wants more. She just refuses to risk having it, only to lose it all over again or find out it was never real.
“You should have told her about Alyssa.”
“And have her tell Slade?” Chaz scoffs, shaking his head. “Fuck that. If he knew Alyssa was weak right now, who knows what he’d do.”
“All you had to do was tell her and then let her know Slade could never find out. She kept your secret. She’d have kept this one too.”
His pacing stops, and his eyes narrow on me as Dice coos crazy hashtags to our little bun baking in my overheated oven.
“It was in her eyes, Chaz. She left the decision to you. You chose us. She would have chosen you if you’d chosen her first.”
His jaw tics, and he disappears from sight. Who knows where he’s going.
“I miss all the pretty glitter he used to leave behind,” I sigh.
“I’ll have him confetti the place in glitter if you’ll let me take you to bed now. I still need to try and poke dents on my baby’s head so I can tell him one day why they’re there. He’ll be scarred for life. It’ll be hashtag—epic. Hashtag—parent goals.”
I burst out laughing, unable to help myself as he waggles his eyebrows. “First of all, how does your mind go there? Secondly, he or she does not have a head yet.”
“It’ll be a boy. There’s too much testosterone going through my veins for a pussy to be attached to anything that came out of me.”
I arch an eyebrow.
“I’m hashtag—all male.”
My eyes dart down to the bulge in his pants. “That you are.”
He tugs my hand, pulling me up. “Let’s take the other cabin Zee and Gage put together. It’ll be quieter,” he tells me, pulling me to him as his lips find mine, connecting in a way that has me moaning into his mouth.
He’s everything I never knew I needed.
And sex with an incubus? Yes, please. Maybe the overuse of my vagina led to the spell weakening, because sex with Dice is like ecstasy fireworks going off in my womb all day every day.
He threads our fingers together, and he puts a dagger in a sheath on his hip like walking the few hundred feet is going to need protection. I grin in spite of him, watching as he looks out for any danger lurking.
A squirrel apparently looks shady, because Dice grips the dagger, prepared to fight it off if necessary.
When a giggle bubbles up, Dice moves quicker, tugging me behind him.
I hear Thad yelling to us, and just as I turn to see what he’s saying, there’s suddenly a hand clamping over my mouth and a dark figure blocking my view. I try to scream, but three more figures show up in time to squash any fight.
My head swims as sparks fly all around us, and booming voices yell in the distance.
Dice’s hand is pulled from mine as a sickening feeling hits me and darkness shades my eyes. It isn’t until I’m dropped into a cage that I realize what just happened.
“No!” I scream as the door gets slammed shut.
The hooded men walk away, never revealing their faces. I look around at the single-celled room I’m in, taking in the dirty stone floors and rickety cages that deceive the eye into thinking they’re weak.
Another figure appears, and I leap back, covering my stomach. That’s when I see Dice in his grasp, and my breath heaves out as he tosses his limp body in.
Instead of rushing the cage door while it’s open, I dive to Dice’s side, seeing blood trickle from his head from a hit he must have taken. A sheen of tears cloud my vision as I turn him over to his back. With panicky, shaking hands, I check for a pulse, relieved to find he’s breathing.
He groans then, and I look around, trying to find a way out of here.
He grabs my hand as his eyes fly open, and he curses as he goes to the cage door. His dagger is gone when he reaches for it, so instead he slams his fist into the bars. Blood sprays from his hand, but he doesn’t flinch.
He starts kicking incessantly at the door, not understanding like I do that it’s impenetrable.
Chains are on the walls, and I shudder. I remember the chains. They locked us up when we misbehaved. My magic is stifled, not working from inside the bars. It’s hell all over again.
“Dice,” I say on a choked sob, and he stops kicking the door to run over to me, taking my jaw in his hand.
“They saw us get taken. They’re going to come. Okay? They’re going to come. We’ll be fine,” he says, stroking my cheek.
His eyes betray his lie. He’s trying to keep me together, saying what I need to hear. But they’ll never find us. The master is always three steps ahead. How did he find us?
Dice tugs me to him, hugging me close as I shake in his arms. I don’t want to fall apart right now. I’d be strong if it was just us in here. But it’s not. Our child is in here too, and I know what these monsters do to children—they get tortured just the same.
After several long minutes, possibly hours, Dice finally releases me, tilting my chin up again so he can kiss me. It’s a soft, reassuring kiss, full of hope and comfort. There’s nothing sexual about it.
When we hear the sound of footsteps approaching, he moves to be in front of me, and fear turns my blood into ice.
Morgana steps in front of the cage, a smirk on her face and malice in her eyes. I knew we should have killed her.
“You two will have to do. Your princess is hiding really well. But you’ll draw her out, won’t you? They love a good rescue party.”
“You? You did this?” D
ice growls. “They’ll kill you this time. Gage won’t save you.”
Darkness swirls all around her, encompassing all she is.
“They can try,” she drawls.
My breath is kicked out of me when I’m suddenly flying back against the wall.
Dice yelps as he’s kicked back as well by some unseen, phantom force. My hands hit the wall, spread wide, as though hands are grappling me and pulling me into position.
I cry out when the chains I noticed earlier suddenly snap into place around my wrists, restraining me without mercy.
Dice curses as the chains snap to him. “You see, you two are apparently loved. They came for you once,” she says, motioning to me. “They’ll come for you again. So will your sister, who happens to be a very important little girl to the Gemini who poses the greatest threat to me.”
“How the fuck did you find us?” Dice barks, ignoring her taunts.
He’s looking for information we can use against them in the future. I’m worried there won’t be a future.
My instincts demand I shield my stomach, but the chains just rattle, mocking me with the sound as they keep my hands tethered to the wall near my head.
“I found you,” a man says as he steps closer.
“You the fucking master?” Dice asks him.
The guy’s eyes dart to Morgana and back so quickly that I almost miss it, but I see it. It’s impossible. No freaking way.
No. Nope. Not possible.
“I’m just a lowly visionary,” he says, his lips twitching. “And you were really hard to find. But picking you two off seemed a little too easy. We almost thought it was a trap.”
I didn’t fight. I was worried about hitting Dice with an accidental blast of power, and I froze. My baby depended on me, and I froze.
Tears rise to my eyes. Kya wouldn’t have frozen. She’d have fought her way out. They chose me because I’m weak, and Dice probably came more willingly just to follow me to hell as he’s promised to always do.
“Why now?” Dice barks, as though he’s trying to juice them for all the information he can.
What he doesn’t understand is that they wouldn’t be telling us anything at all—or revealing themselves—if they weren’t positive we’re going to die.
“Why now?” Morgana echoes, a sadistic grin curving her lips. “For one, I want your princess just in case my backup plan doesn’t work. And for two...” Her smile disappears as something akin to pure, unadulterated hatred crosses her eyes. “I’m tired of you getting too close to fucking up centuries of work. Today, that all ends.”
She steps back as something dark and gnarly starts toward us. It’s huge, at least seven feet tall, possibly taller. And wide, almost the width of two men, but in a buff, muscled up way. What is that thing?
The thing is in a metal mask that clasps around its face, and its eyes seem hollowed out... As though someone removed them. The black metal extends to its body, lining it with armor like a medieval knight.
It looks every bit as dark and foreboding as the undead.
“Meet our very own little creation,” Morgana says as the black knight steps closer. “We call him the Harbinger of Death. He was made from a human, but infused with the blood of so many goodies. He’s the first who survived the trials, with a Lokie’s help, of course. He’ll be taking all the information we need right from your lips. Feel free to show yourself mercy and talk. The kill will go much swifter if you tell him everything you know about the scarred Gemini, the princess, and your beloved king and queen.”
“Why pry out information if you think they’re going to show?” Dice snaps.
“I don’t think they’ll show up,” Morgana says, a wicked tilt to her lips. “I know they will. They’re far too predictable. However, I’m not sure who all will come, so this is to cover all bases. Have fun turning on your friends,” she says while winking.
She leaves, but the visionary minion stays behind with a sinister grin tugging at his lips.
“You’re really overestimating my value!” Dice calls to her back as he struggles against the chains.
“We’ll see.” Morgana’s voice floats down the hallway like a bad omen as the dark knight rips the cage door off like it isn’t warded against all magic.
I swallow a tight knot in my throat as my eyes fall down on his black fingernails that are shaped like a werewolf’s claws. His missing eyes seem to be staring right at me as he makes his way closer.
“Over here, you tin can!” Dice snaps, but the knight ignores him as my throat goes dry.
“Hey, you stupid motherfucker! You deaf? Are your ears missing too? You want to fuck with me!”
The knight stops in front of me, not regarding Dice in the least. His head drops to my stomach, and I start panicking, jerking at the chains. Somehow it knows I’m pregnant.
“Your dick is apparently attached to your shoulders, you ugly son of a bitch! I said over here. Or are you too weak to take me? Too weak to hurt an incubus that’s chained to the wall, so you have to fuck with a half human woman?” Dice goads.
Something in that strikes a nerve, because the knight turns his head with such an eerie slow speed toward Dice. Dice, the stupid asshole, smirks.
“Dice, no!” I shout as he slams his foot against the back of the knight’s leg.
He grimaces, and the knight doesn’t so much as falter.
“Yeah, you dumb, ugly bastard. Right here. Keep those gouged out eyes on me. Show me you’re stronger than touching a fucking helpless woman. Or am I too much man? Worried I’ll break free and fuck you up?”
The knight moves fast, grabbing Dice by the throat, and I scream, pleading to no avail for the evil bastard to stop.
Something black starts spreading through the veins of Dice’s face, becoming more and more visible as Dice chokes, his body shaking like he can’t breathe.
“You’re killing him!” I shout, the panic clawing at my chest as my breaths come out painfully. I struggle as tears pour down my eyes. “He can’t talk if you kill him! They won’t come after dead people!”
“Ah, but we never said you’d be alive to see them come,” says the voice from the shadows—the visionary who is getting off on watching. “And frankly, I doubt you have any real information to share.”
The knight releases Dice as more panic slams into me. His creepy non-existent eyes move to his claws, and Dice struggles to breathe as one of those black, curled claws strikes his chest.
Dice screams out, then works hard to contain the pain, biting down on his lip. The scent of burning flesh hits me hard, and I gawk in disbelief as the skin on Dice’s chest smokes and sizzles.
“Here! Come after me!” I scream, no longer frozen. “You want me! I’m stronger!”
The knight ignores me.
“Shut... the fuck... up,” Dice says through strain, biting back his next scream when another slice goes deeper, dragging out blood that hisses against the hot flesh that continues to burn against the dagger-like claws wrapped in immortal acid.
A gurgled sound of pain comes when another slice goes from his waist to his chest, and too much blood starts pouring out as Dice’s head grows heavy on his shoulders.
He struggles to stay conscious, and I continue to scream, desperation choking me with its phantom grip on my neck. Something inside me snaps, something deep, primal, and lost in the chasm of my ever working mind.
Another pained cry has my heart kicking my chest, my body feels like it’s turning inside-out, and my mind finally grabs onto the one thing missing.
I tilt my head toward the ceiling and scream, but this time, I scream a name. The name that is forced from my throat as instinct takes over.
“Kyyyyaaaa!”
Chapter 23
KYA
“Instinct. It’s our strongest weapon,” Slade says as he circles me.
My eyes are closed as I track his movements by sound. I’m crouched to the ground, feeling the vibrations the gentle scuff of his feet make even as he barely makes a sound.<
br />
I listen, hearing his every word, forcing my mind to blank.
“Forget all you know. In truth, the world changes daily. Rules and restrictions change with evolution. If you believe something to be impossible, your mind will convince you it is so. It makes you vulnerable. Weak. Open to an attack you never thought possible. But it can do the opposite if you trust your instincts, finding all that untapped power within you and surprising them with the unexpected or impossible,” he tells me.
Each time he reaches my back, the hairs on my neck rise. But it’s the only reaction being provoked by my instincts.
“You can’t think, Kya. Not at all. The mind will get you killed quicker than your base instincts ever will. Hesitation is your worst enemy. Emotions cloud your judgment. But instincts? Instincts are there for the sole purpose of preserving your life. Trust them. Lean on them. Tap into them.”
He continues to circle me, and I continue to reach for the base of my very existence, letting all the thoughts in my head slowly roll away. It almost seems impossible to do.
“The first night stalker was on the verge of starvation before instincts drove him to taste the blood of a human. We’ve all found our sustenance through desperation. When the mind or body is the most desperate, you turn everything off, allowing instincts to take over. You need to reach that spot without reaching that desperation. Only then will you know what you’re truly capable of.”
His footsteps cease, and I listen, waiting for the attack. His footsteps stopped on my right, so I anticipate him to come at me from my left, knowing how he enjoys a surprise.
He does surprise me, still. Instead of my left, the silent, unexpected hit comes at my front, and I grunt as I’m flipped backwards, tasting blood in my mouth as my face aches from the impact.
“You’re still thinking,” he growls as I open my eyes and spit out the metallic, red proof of my failure.
“It’s not as simple as asking my instincts to take over,” I grumble, slowly standing up. “And not thinking is like asking me to grow gills. I can’t just stop thinking.”
He glares at me like I’m somehow an idiot for thinking. The irony isn’t lost on me.
