Incubus (8 page)

“What makes you think she was looking for something?” Lucas asked, trying to get Rick to focus.

“Well, she had that thing drawn on her hand. You know. Like those weird carvings on the floor. I

figured she was looking for something specific.” A horn honked from the parking lot and Rick turned,

waving at a car. “That’s my ride,” he said. “Catch you guys later.”

As Rick raced away, I looked at Lucas. I didn’t even have to ask.

“You drive,” Lucas murmured.

I turned back to Royal and Cassie. “Catch you guys tomorrow?”

“So, that’s a ‘no’ on the SAT prep?” Royal asked.

“We—there’s this thing,” I started.

Royal held up a hand. “Spare me the details.” He turned to Cassie. “Please tell me you’re not

abandoning me, too?”

“I’m actually looking forward to meeting your academic Ken doll,” Cassie said.

Royal smiled and threw his arm over Cassie’s shoulder. He glanced at us and shrugged. “Their

loss,” he said to Cassie. “Toodles.” Royal held my gaze for a moment, and I could see his

disappointment. Then he turned and led Cassie toward his gleaming platinum two-seater in the

parking lot.

While part of me wanted to stay and do my part to cheer Cassie up, I had to go back to the mission.

If the Thrall was searching for something in that sanctuary, we needed to know what it was.

20 minutes later the town was receding in my rearview mirror. We headed across the natural preserve

that separated the mission from Puerto Escondido proper. I stepped on the gas and the Firebird leapt

forward beneath us, shooting down the ribbon of asphalt that wound up the far side of the valley.

We reached our turnoff and I eased up on the gas. The road to the mission had never been paved,

and if you didn’t know where you were going there was a good chance you’d miss it. You couldn’t see

the mission from this point on the road. It was higher up the mountain, shrouded from view by

scrubby piñon trees. Up farther, the trees would thin out, providing that amazing view from the

mission’s front door. I turned onto the dirt road. Dust and small rocks kicked up behind us.

“You know, it’s possible that Rick just saw this woman acting crazy and made up a theory that she

was looking for something to explain it,” Lucas said.

“Yeah.”

“Or maybe she was there to attack us, and she was just walking in circles, waiting for us to come

back down from that balcony.”

“Maybe.” I kept my eyes focused on the road. “Or maybe,” I said, “she
was
looking for something.

Something she didn’t want us to find. Maybe that’s why she didn’t come into the sanctuary until it

looked like we’d left. Maybe that’s why she attacked us,” I glanced at Lucas. His jaw was tight. “And

maybe that’s why she ran away after her fall, instead of coming back to finish the job.”

Lucas looked at me, his eyes full of questions.

I turned back to the road. It curved around in a gentle arc, and as we came out of the turn, the view

opened up revealing the mission. The parking lot was empty. I pulled to a stop in front of the

sanctuary and killed the engine. Neither of us moved for a moment. The last time I’d seen the mission,

I was being escorted into the back of an ambulance by a group of EMTs while Mr. Landon hovered by

my side anxiously. I felt a sudden pang of uncertainty. Maybe we should have told Dad what we were

planning.

“Well, here goes nothing,” Lucas said. I pushed down the doubt.

We got out of the car and approached the building. The doors to the sanctuary were closed but not

locked. There was no lock built into the doors, actually. If you wanted to keep someone out, you’d

have to lay the heavy crossbeam through the metal brackets bolted to the inside of the doors. Lucas

held one door open and I walked inside, scanning the space.

It seemed empty. Darker than the last time we’d been here. The shattered stained glass window

was boarded up, blocking a good part of the late afternoon sunlight. Without the warm glow of

sunlight the sanctuary seemed colder, more foreboding than peaceful. I shivered against a sudden

chill.

Lucas took my hand wordlessly. We moved forward into the space. Walking out from under the

foyer’s coved ceiling, I was suddenly aware of the hidden balcony, unseen in the shadows above us. I

had the creepy sensation that someone was watching. I shook it off.

“Let’s get this over with,” I whispered. We walked into the center of the sanctuary, coming to a

stop before the altar. The floor was stone but not, as I’d assumed earlier, paved. I wandered across the

floor but could find no seams in the rock.

“It’s all one stone,” Lucas said, echoing my thought.

We examined the floor, and discovered that we were only partially correct. The massive stone,

roughly circular in shape, stretched clear across the sanctuary. But smaller stone tiles filled the gaps

beyond the round stone, extending the floor to the edges of the room. The surface of the stone had

been worn down over the centuries, but we could still make out faint marks carved into its face. I

recognized one mark, partially hidden under a pew, and froze.

“Lucas,” I called. “Look.” I pointed down to the mark I’d spotted and heard Lucas’s sharp intake

of breath. “Help me?” Together, Lucas and I pushed the pew back, revealing a string of symbols we

both knew all too well. Symbols that were carved onto the blades of every set of daggers a new

member of the Guard received. The symbols were older than mankind; they’d been handed down to

the Guard from the three angels charged with hunting down Lilitu—Senoy, Sansenoy, and

Semangelof. These symbols were meant to protect humanity in the fight against the Lilitu.

“Why?” Lucas looked up, meeting my eyes. “Why here? Do you think the monks—?”

I stood suddenly, electric fear shooting through my nerves. “Lucas. What if
Puerto Escondido
isn’t

referring to a secret door in the sanctuary? What if it’s referring to a door between realities?”

Lucas looked up at me, brow furrowed, trying to see what had suddenly become clear to me. “I

don’t—” He stood, glancing back down at the ground.

“I think the monks built their mission directly over the seal.” I stared down at the massive stone,

ringed with ancient symbols. “I think
this
is the door they were trying to hide.”

Lucas reacted, grabbing my hand and pulling me off the massive round stone. We retreated to the

side of the sanctuary, huddling against a wall, staring back at the seal with sick fascination. Lucas had

shielded me from the stone with his body instinctively, but as the adrenaline of the moment cleared,

he turned to face me, realizing he had me pinned against the wall. His eyes found my face, but he

didn’t move. Only our breathing disturbed the silence. I knew I should say something to break the

moment, but I couldn’t. Lucas brushed fingertips along my cheek, leaving a warm glow lingering at

his touch. I looked up, finding his eyes. Somehow, even in the dim light of the mission, they gleamed.

“Tell me what you want,” he said. I saw him struggling for self-control.

“What I want,” I breathed. “What I want.” My eyes flickered to his lips. “There’s a caveat,” I said

at last. “To becoming human.”

Lucas drew back a little to get a better look at my face. “What do you mean? What caveat?”

“I can’t lose control,” I said. “Every time I slip and let the Lilitu part of me steal energy from

someone, it destroys another tiny bit of my humanity. If I lose too much, there’ll be no changing what

I am. No chance of becoming human for real. So when you ask me what I want—”

“It’s hard,” Lucas said. “I know. It’s hard for me, too.”

“I wouldn’t blame you if you wanted to leave me.”

“Don’t joke about that,” Lucas said.

“Right, you’re the guy who flirts with danger.” I smiled, but I could hear the edge in my voice.

“Why not date it, too? What’s the worst that could happen? I slip up, you die, I get executed by the

Guard.” Lucas’s expression looked pained.

“Don’t,” he said again. “Don’t manufacture a reason for us to break up.”

“Fine,” I said. I pushed against his arm and Lucas let me go. “We should get home.”

“I’m with you to the end, Braedyn. Or until you don’t want me anymore.”

Something in his voice stopped me before I could walk away. He offered his hands to me. After a

moment, I took them. Lucas pulled me close and this time I sank into him. He wrapped his arms

around my back, holding me tight.

“There’s something you’re forgetting,” Lucas whispered into my hair. “You’ve kissed me without

hurting me before.”

He was right. There had been one kiss after my Lilitu powers had blossomed. One kiss in his room,

where I’d successfully battled down the Lilitu storm and kept it from siphoning off the essence that

made Lucas who he was.

“I trust you,” Lucas breathed. “If you tell me we have to stay at arm’s length when we’re awake,

that’s what we’ll do. But if you ever want to try again...”

Tears seared the corners of my eyes as a swell of emotion threatened to break over me. Lucas,

seeing this, started to pull back. I caught his hand, stopping him. I didn’t need to speak. I tilted my

head up, slipping a shaking hand up to Lucas’s cheek. He let me guide him forward, lips parting.

Someone coughed pointedly behind us.

Lucas and I jerked back as if scalded. Adrenaline jolted my system, my heart wrenching painfully

in my chest. The intruder was a slight boy about my age, with thin wire-frame glasses and fair, close-

cropped hair.

“Assuming that’s your car parked out front, you two could probably spring for a cheap motel. So,

if you don’t mind, some of us are actually here for the history of this place.”

Without waiting for a response, the blond boy turned to a wooden panel and carefully placed a

sheet of almost-transparent paper over it. He fished a bit of charcoal out of his pocket and started

rubbing it lightly over the paper. With every stroke, the image of the panel beneath took shape on the

page.

I turned back to Lucas, brushing my hair back from my face, embarrassed. “Come on. We should

tell the others what we found.”

Lucas nodded and we headed together toward the door.

Without looking up, the boy said something under his breath.

“What was that?” Lucas asked, stopping.

“I’m almost done here.” The boy glanced over his shoulder at Lucas. “So if you’re planning on

getting the goods in the back seat of your car, do me a favor and drive somewhere else first. I’m not

all that interested in the mating habits of the Southwestern suburban teen.”

Lucas’s eyes widened in outraged surprise. “For a skinny kid, you’ve got a pretty big mouth. Why

don’t you shut it, before someone shuts it for you?”

“Yes, you’re very threatening,” the boy said, flicking his eyes over me impartially. “But I’m

guessing your girlfriend’ll give it up without the macho display of manhood, so you might as well

save your energy.”

Lucas took a step toward the kid, fury snapping in his eyes. I grabbed his arm.

“Come on,” I said quickly, surprised by Lucas’s sudden rage. “Ignore him. He doesn’t know what

he’s talking about.”

“Right,” Lucas said gruffly.

“Of course not,” the blond boy sighed in a mocking tone. “How could I possibly understand?

You’re the only two people in the history of the world who’ve ever felt this deeply, this purely.”

I felt Lucas stiffen with rage beside me, but we were at the sanctuary door. I pulled us outside. The

sun had dipped below the mountain while we’d been inside the mission, and the sudden cool air was

the slap in the face we needed.

“You okay?” I asked Lucas, who was still staring back at the sanctuary like he was brewing for a

fight. “Hey. Lucas.”

Lucas startled, then saw me watching him. He gave me a grudging smile. “Sorry. We’ve got way

bigger problems than some undernourished tow-head with an attitude.”

I smiled, letting some of the tension ease out of my back. I led the way to my car, but as I

unlocked the doors I caught Lucas shooting one last glare at the sanctuary behind us.

Chapter 4

By the time we got home, the Guard was already settled around the worn round table for dinner.

Spaghetti. Gretchen must have been on kitchen duty tonight. Gretchen had many skills, but cooking

was not one of them. Everyone looked up when Lucas and I entered, but it wasn’t until I saw Thane’s

expression harden that I realized Lucas and I were still holding hands. I pulled my hand away quickly

and shrugged out of my sweater, taking the seat next to Dad. Lucas sat between Gretchen and Hale on

the other side of the table.

“Heads up.” Matthew tossed him a dinner roll, which Lucas caught with a tight smile. Neither of

us were in a very playful mood.

“Everything okay?” Dad asked, sensing our unease.

Thane’s gaze flicked from me to Lucas, suspicion creasing the edges of his eyes.