How to Kill an Incubus: A Rae Erickson Story (24 page)

Yeah. This was exactly why I didn’t date. Correction: why I hadn’t dated.  

“Rae, you’re being ridiculous,” I told myself out loud, getting to my feet and stretching. Then, I massaged the crick in my neck and yawned.

Friday night in Paris, I was in sweats and my hair was in pigtails. The only drink I had in my house was Coke and I barely had any food in my cupboards since I hadn’t done any shopping in… a while.

But then I heard the knock at my door and excitement sizzled through me. I practically bounded to the door, unlocking and yanking it open without checking the peephole.

To my dismay, Andrei wasn’t the one standing outside my door, which made total sense because Andrei never knocked, he simply appeared.

“Rainelle?” the man who was standing outside my door asked, looking me over.

He looked to be in his late forties, or early fifties, and had the shiniest, whitest head I’d ever laid my eyes on. The thick black eyebrows above watery brown eyes were in contrast to his gleaming bald head, as was the carefully groomed moustache above his thin lips. Just slightly taller than me, he was swathed in a black trench coat and slacks.

He didn’t look threatening, but then again, they never did.

“Yes, do I know you?” I demanded to know, sounding more confident than I actually felt, because let’s face it, he could totally take me in a fight.

“Excuse my manners, Rainelle,” he said apologetically, stretching out a gloved hand. “Uncle Teddy. You might not remember me but I was friends with your father, God rest his soul.”

I stared at his hand, unable to register that it belonged to a man I didn’t think I’d see again until… well, until never. Teddy Bunting was unable to make it to my father’s funeral but he did offer to pay for it, something that I flatly refused. Now, the only thing I was able to remember about him went back to the night he showed up at our house after Lauren vanished. Oh, and also that his wife, Aunt Josephine, was apparently a witch that freaking attended mass on Sundays. The irony.

“Rainelle? May I come in?” Teddy asked, and I became conscious of the fact that, at this point, he already dropped his hand and was staring at me expectantly.

“How’d you find me?” I questioned, but I already knew the answer to that.

“Danny Lawless gave me your address. And since I had business to attend to in Paris…”

The rest was pretty much obvious. If Daniel knew my father, then he knew Teddy.

I stepped aside, allowing him entry into my living room and closing the door behind him. He stood and observed, nodding all the while as if he approved of what he saw.

“How have you been, girl?” He turned and appraised me once more.

“Um, good.” I motioned for him to take a seat and he did. Hugging myself, I asked, “How’s Aunt Jo?”

“Oh, she’s dead. Happened two years ago. You look exactly like your father, Rainelle. It’s uncanny.”

His legs were stretched out before him, crossed at the ankles, and he commented about my appearance in the same breath as the casual announcement of his wife’s death.

“What?” I sputtered, a familiar pang of loss hitting me in the chest. “What happened? Was she sick?”

“A demon got to her,” he said in a quiet voice, and this time, there was some flicker of emotion in his eyes. It disappeared as quickly as it came though. “It was an occupational hazard, Rainelle. We all know the risks of our jobs.”

I didn’t even remember Aunt Jo that well but I still felt devastated. But her husband was brushing her death off as a freaking occupational hazard? I had to sit down right then. With nothing to do, I went to work undoing my braids.
Why did I do them, anyway? They only make my hair curlier and harder to manage and…    

“So you’re a private investigator?” Teddy wanted to know.

I nodded and my hair fell into my face. “And you’re still… hunting?” I pushed the stray strands behind my ears.

He smiled. “Yes, Rainelle. And I wanted to tell you about Lauren…”

“Stop right there,” I broke in, holding a hand up. “I don’t want anything to do with demons, Uncle Teddy. I just want to get on with my life.”
However fucked-up it might be.

“It’s nonsense for you to go around pretending you’re normal,” he surprised me by grumbling. “Not to mention dumb. You’re not normal, Rainelle. Not even close. The sooner you realize that, the safer you’ll be.”      

I narrowed my eyes at him. “Thanks for the concern but I’ve been doing fine pretending thus far. I don’t need you randomly appearing on my doorstep, telling me what to do.”

He held his hands up in surrender. “I don’t mean to come off too strong but I promised your father that…”

“Did everybody, and their mothers, make a promise to my dad?” I snarled, suddenly unable to stand this man. How was it that the two worlds I successfully managed to avoid in the past were coming together so instantaneously? Hunters and demons, they were everywhere now.

“Rainelle, please listen to me,” Teddy implored, taking a deep breath. “The only thing I want is for you to at least know how to defend yourself. Just a simple banishing spell and maybe a little…”

“I’ve been perfectly fine with Danny getting witches to put up wards in my house behind my back.”

“But this one isn’t protected. Do you want me to…?”

“No,” I said quickly. “I don’t want you to get someone to put up a ward.”
Because that would keep my boyfriend out and that would suck.

He quirked a questioning brow. “Why not? Wouldn’t you feel safer?”

“I just… Magic gives me the creeps, even if it’s supposed to do good.”

He nodded slowly. “So you won’t let me help you?”

I regarded him for a long while. “Help me what? Turn into a cold, unfeeling person that doesn’t bat an eyelash when relaying the news of a loved one’s death? No, thanks.”

His jaw twitched and his eyes hardened. A minute shiver of impending danger skated down my spine. I wasn’t afraid of Teddy, not necessarily. But I was afraid that I’d gone too far and maybe nonchalance was just his way of coping with Josephine’s passing.

Movement in the doorway that led to the passageway caught my attention… and I was both relieved and anxious that Andrei suddenly appeared. Teddy was sitting with his back to the doorway, which was why he didn’t catch Andrei’s magical appearance.

“Who’s this?” Andrei asked curtly, his voice dripping with animosity.

God, is he seriously jealous of a man old enough to be my father?

Teddy rose to his feet, completely unruffled as he turned to look at Andrei, who strode right into the room. “I didn’t know you have company, Rainelle. I’m Teddy, a family friend.” He held his hand out and Andrei simply looked at it, as if it were diseased.

I stood. “Teddy was just leaving.”

“Was I?” Teddy arched a brow. “And who might you be?” His critical eyes were trained on Andrei as he said that and I wanted to sock him.
Who the hell does he think he is, my father?

Andrei’s eyes flickered over to me and I knew he sensed my silent wrath. “Her boyfriend, not that it’s any of your fucking business, friend of the family,” he bit out, keeping his eyes on me.

Teddy let out a mirthless laugh. “Certainly.” He approached me and placed a soft kiss on my forehead. I tried not to flinch.

Somewhere behind him, Andrei growled.

Ignoring him, Teddy reached into the pocket of his coat and pulled out a piece of laminated paper. “Here’s my card. Call me anytime, girl. And take care of yourself.” Then, he glanced over his shoulder, staring long and hard at Andrei before stalking out my house.

I let out the breath I didn’t even realize I’d been holding as Andrei closed the distance between us and pulled me into his arms. 

“That was a hunter,” I said breathlessly, “and one who’s infinitely better than my father was.”

“I know of him,” Andrei commented, rubbing circles in my back. “You don’t have to be worried on my behalf, baby.” He pulled back, cupping my chin and appraising me. “I’ve missed you.”

We were together the previous night but I absolutely felt the same. The whole day, I was wondering when I’d get to see him again… and be in his arms like this. It was probably the most annoying thing about being official.

“I’ve missed you, too,” I mirrored, receiving a soft, teasing kiss on the column of my neck when he lowered his head. I moaned, low in my throat, when he sucked on my skin. “God, Andrei, you have no idea how much.”

He raised his head, a slow smile spreading on his face. “I think I do,” he said huskily, glancing down at the T-shirt I was wearing. My nipples were straining against the cotton, begging for attention.

“Then what are you going to do about it?” I pouted, pulling him back to me.

“Well…” He released a groan of longing when I played with my nipples through my shirt. “First, I’m going to feed you.”

That made me pause. “Feed me?”

“How does Italian sound?”

At the mention of food, my mouth started watering. “It sounds like Adele to my ears.”

“Great! Go get dressed, then.” He turned me around and smacked my ass. “Don’t take too long or I’ll come and get you.”

And what’s so bad about that?

“I won’t,” I said softly, ignoring the moisture between my legs. “Are we driving or walking?”

“Neither,” he replied, and I grinned up at him.

Oh, I was totally getting used to teleportation as a mode of transport. It meant I could wear my Jimmy Choos with minimal ankle-twisting. And yes, I always try to see the best in everything.

Andrei let me open my eyes the second we arrived at our destination, which was a little bistro just outside Naples, he quickly explained. I never heard of it before, but judging from the lavish décor, it was obviously an expensive place. Andrei, though, was seriously underdressed in his usual T-shirt and jeans ensemble—which actually didn’t matter since the place was completely empty.

“Where is
everyone?” I had to ask.

“The restaurant is closed to the public tonight,” Andrei replied. “And I’ve also charmed the entire staff to remain in the kitchen until we’re done. You’re all mine.”

The chandeliers were lit, hanging high above the cloth-covered tables and high-back suede dining chairs. Only one table was set though. And once I spied the food on the table it instantly caused a very audible rumbling in my belly. Andrei heard it and chuckled.

“So… are you hungry?” he asked, taking my hand in his and leading me to the table.

“Well, yes. But why…?” I realized how ambiguous that question was so I quickly amended it. “What’s the occasion?”

“No occasion,” he replied simply, pulling out a chair for me. “Well, save for the fact that I enjoy watching you eat.”

“Oh, like it’s a sport or something,” I remarked dryly as I gingerly sat down.

Andrei laughed, the sound making me crane my neck to watch the beautiful transition on his face. “No, baby.” He crouched, until his face was level with my chest. “I imagine your zeal for eating food matches my enthusiasm for feasting on you,” he stated matter-of-factly before placing a sensual kiss to my exposed kneecap.

My body instantly responded, heating up and trembling for him. I was in a skintight virgin white dress that fell mid-thigh with my favorite Jimmy Choo heels, but I might as well have been naked and ready for him.

“You will finish everything on the table,” Andrei huskily commanded, rubbing my left calf. “No one else is here to help you.”

I tore my eyes away from him to look at the steaming plate of lasagna, which I realized, was actually cooked in Italy by an authentic Italian chef. My mouth was watering just sniffing such a delectable aroma.

“Of course,” I told Andrei, giving him an incredulous look. “Is there any other way?”

“Good girl,” he said approvingly, rising to his full height. “But you will sit on my cock. Up, Rae.”

Desire spiked high in my veins. “Excuse me?”

“Up.”

I shakily got to my feet, gripping the edge of the table for support and allowing him to take my place on the chair. His palm connected with my ass and I jumped, releasing a childlike squeal.