Incubus of Bourbon Street (23 page)

Maximus stepped back and a second later, the demon evaporated into a puff of white smoke.

Chapter 23

“Kane!” I sprinted to his lifeless body and fell to his side. Placing one hand over his heart and the other on his neck, I quickly found his pulse. Still beating. A sigh of relief escaped my lips as I pulled the healing potion Bea and I had made out of my pocket.

“Here,” Bea said. “I’ll do it.”

I glanced up to find my mentor standing over us, along with the five remaining demon hunters. The sixth one, the one the demon had poisoned, was lying with Bea’s witch’s robes covering him. With a shaking hand, I surrendered the potion to Bea. She was much more skilled at healing than I’d ever be. “Thank you.”

Bea lowered herself to her knees on the other side of Kane. “I’m going to need you to give me some room, Jade,” she said gently.

I pulled my hands away but didn’t leave his side. Instead, I slipped my hand in his and waited.

Bea swiped a dab of the potion over Kane’s forehead and then moved her hands to his bruising neck. The skin was already turning purple where the demon had tried to crush his throat.

I squeezed my fingers over his and barely noticed the tears on my cheeks. Kane was hurt. The implications of just how serious his condition was hit me hard. My insides were gutted.

“Give him a jolt of your magic, Jade,” Bea said. “You carry a piece of him with you. All you need to do is share some of yourself with him and he’ll awaken.”

Right. I carried his incubus magic with me now, just as he did my witch magic. Power sparked from just below my chest. The magic tingled through my veins and collected at my fingertips. “Wake up, Kane,” I whispered, caressing his palm.

Warmth grew between our hands, and as the magic filtered into him, his complexion took on a healthy glow.

“That’s it. A little more,” Bea coaxed as she tipped the potion to his lips.

Magic strained to pour into him, but I held it back, only giving a small dose at a time.

“Again,” Bea said, frowning.

Panic started to take over and my magic surged.

Kane’s body jerked and jumped a foot off the ground. As he landed back onto the hard earth, he sucked in a large breath, his eyes wide.

“Oh my God. Kane. I’m so sorry.” I clutched his hand and held it to my chest.

He blinked and focused on me. Licking his lips, he frowned. “What happened?”

“The demon tried to suffocate you. Bea healed your wounds.”

“But Jade brought you back,” Bea said. “The demon sucked enough of your energy that you’d slipped into a coma.” She got to her feet. “I’ll talk to the rest of the coven and give you two a moment.”

Kane glanced around at the demon hunters. He cleared his throat. “You made it.”

Maximus stared down at him. Then after a moment, he held his hand out.

No one said a word as Kane stared at Maximus. His expression gave nothing away, and even I wasn’t sure what he was going to do.

“I should’ve never taken your dagger,” Maximus said. “Trust is the foundation of the Brotherhood. I forgot that. It’s my fault we lost a brother today. I don’t want to lose another.”

A low murmur filtered through the remaining hunters as their surprise bubbled up and burst around them in a display of tiny sparks only I could see. Maximus must not admit when he was wrong very often.

Kane cut his gaze to Maximus’s hand, then sat up and clasped it.

Maximus pulled him to his feet. Kane stood tall and strong before the leader, the bruises on his neck already faded from Bea’s superior magic. The two shook hands, and then before Kane could let go, Maximus pulled him into a manly hug, clapping him on the back twice before releasing him.

The Brotherhood leader stretched both arms out in front of himself, hands palms up. He met Kane’s gaze and held it as he bowed. “For my fellow brethren, may your power be strong and sure. May your mind be sharp and your heart be true. And may your brothers be wise enough to always remember who is loyal.” Bright white magic sparked in his hand in the shape of the Brotherhood’s dagger.

We all stood in awe, watching the dagger solidify, the symbol on the hilt shining with a brilliant glow of light.

The power radiating off it was stronger than the one Kane had been given the first time around. I could feel it pulsing deep in my bones.

As Kane studied the weapon, an intense longing filtered from him to me. It was as if he craved it.

“It’s yours,” Maximus said, his voice full of conviction.

Kane finally reached for the dagger. When his fingers closed around the hilt, a burst of its power flashed and then sank into Kane’s skin. The fatigue around his eyes vanished and energy pulsed around him. It was clear he was ready for anything. A ghost of a smile claimed his lips, and he stepped back, giving Maximus a small nod.

Pride swelled in my heart as I watched the display. Kane was being treated as an equal. From now on he would be one of them. Trust had been earned.

The air between the pair shimmered slightly, leaving behind a feeling of respect. Maximus’s attitude toward Kane had just shifted, and I got the impression they’d have a more balanced working relationship from now on.

Too bad someone had to die in order for Maximus to get there. Anger rushed through my veins at the thought. But I gritted my teeth and said nothing. The remorse clinging to Maximus and the other demon hunters was thick and heart wrenching. They were suffering a massive blow and all of them felt it deeply.

“We’ll take him back to the mansion,” Maximus said, staring at the fallen hunter.

“I won’t be coming.” Kane slipped his hand into mine.

Maximus nodded, his dark eyes full of regret. “Take all the time you need.”

One of the hunters bent and lifted the fallen hunter over his shoulder. A second later, the five of them took a step forward and disappeared into the shadows.

“We should all get home,” I said to the coven members.

There was a few mumbles of agreement, but everyone was still too shocked to say much else. For most of them, it was no doubt the first time they’d witnessed the loss of life.

“Thank you…” I paused and then shook my head, knowing there was nothing else left to say. “Just thank you.”

Lucien waved the coven members over to him and talked to them in hushed tones. I sent him a grateful smile and stuck to Kane’s side. “Are you all right?” I whispered.

He shifted closer to me and wrapped an arm around my waist as he kissed the top of my head. “Yes. I’ll be even better after we find the Goddess and release her hold on Pyper.”

I closed my eyes, battling against the helplessness threatening to claim me. “I don’t know how to find her.”

“I don’t either, but we will…one way or another.”

***

Kane and I stood outside the back door of Wicked. “Are you sure you want to do this?” I asked.

“Yes. I have to know.” He slipped his key into the lock, but before he could open the door, I put my hand over his, stopping him.

“I’m worried you’re not one hundred percent.” We’d just come from the coven circle and were on our way home to regroup when he’d pulled into his parking spot behind the club.

His hand slid up my spine and cupped the back of my head. “Don’t worry about me, Jade.” He tapped the dagger now safely tucked back into his belt. “I’ve got what I need.”

“If you say so.”

“I do.” He seemed so solid, so sure of himself, my unease faded into the background.

The door creaked open, and silence greeted us. None of the hall lights were lit, and the place was darker than I’d ever seen it. It even felt dark. Ominous. But not from Kane’s energy this time. It was deserted. Empty.

All the lingering lust and excitement that usually filled the club was gone. None of the residual emotions that never failed to turn my stomach were present. There was just nothing. “Does anything feel differently to you?”

Kane paused. “No. But it does to you. What is it?”

I shook my head. “Nothing. That’s the thing. I can’t feel any residual energy at all.”

“That’s good, right?”

I squinted through the darkness. “I don’t know yet.”

He took two steps and then stopped again. “You don’t feel my incubus energy?”

“That I feel.” Sort of. I was aware of his energy, but it wasn’t overwhelming me like it usually did. Not at the moment anyway. “But the taint is gone.”

“Completely?” There was a faint trace of relieved hope in his tone.

“Yes. At least in the club anyway. When you reopen, you probably won’t have people lined up down the block like you did before. The allure just isn’t here.”

“Good.”

I chuckled. “That’s the first time I’ve heard you say anything positive about the club not having customers.”

He laughed with me. “You’re right. And it’ll probably be the last.”

As we neared the office, Kane flipped the switch that illuminated the lights on the walls. Sure enough, no one was there. But the place looked like a hurricane had hit it. The chairs were toppled over, empty booze bottles were strewn over the stage, and something had clawed at the blue-velvet walls.

“Holy shit,” I whispered. “What happened here?”

Kane walked slowly around the room, taking in the destruction. Red-tinged anger swarmed around him. His jaw worked, but he said nothing as he kicked his way through the debris.

I had no idea who could’ve done such a thing. The back door hadn’t been tampered with. I was willing to bet the front door hadn’t been either. There just wasn’t any residual energy in the club at all. And it was very strange. An attack like this one would invariably leave something behind.

“Kane?”

He jerked his head up. “Yes?”

“We need to search the building. I can’t feel anything at all. I don’t know what’s going on, if the place has been cloaked in order to hide energy from me, or if it’s been cleansed or what. But since everything about this is off, we need to do a sweep and make sure no one else is here.”

“Yeah. You’re right.” Together we walked the perimeter of the club, finding nothing but debris. Then we checked the office. Interestingly, nothing was out of place there except the door had been broken off the hinges.

“This is beyond weird,” I said.

Kane nodded, but tugged me into the hallway and upstairs. Nothing was out of place in any of the apartments except for Zoe’s. There were marks on the wall from where she’d been tied up, along with the large spikes. But she was nowhere to be found and all her things appeared to be accounted for, including her purse, which housed her wallet and her keys.

“Do you think Genesis still has her?” I asked, clutching my throat.

“She has to.” We both stood staring at the wall where we’d last seen her in Kane’s dreamwalk.

“We have to find her,” I said.

Kane nodded and before I could say anything else, he ushered me toward the door.

“Where are we headed?” I asked.

“To the shadows.”

My internal alarm went off. “We can’t do that. Not without notifying someone.”

“Then call Lucien. Or Bea. Or Lailah. We cannot leave here unless we check for her. And since that’s the last place she was seen, we don’t have a choice.”

I had to run to catch up with him as he flew down the stairs, and a few moments later we were standing in his office.

“Hold on.” I pulled my phone out of my pocket and grimaced when I saw the red light indicating the battery was almost dead. There was only time for one text. I sent a group message to Lucien, Lailah, and Bea.

Kane and I are checking the shadows for Zoe. If you don’t hear back from us within the hour, send reinforcements
. I nodded in satisfaction at the Sent notification. “Done,” I said.

“Are you ready?” he asked me.

“Ready.”

Our fingers slipped together and the world shifted.

I blinked through the grayness and instantly knew that the energy in the shadows had been restored. “It’s not tainted,” I said to Kane, relief flooding through me.

But he didn’t answer. He was staring off to the right, righteous indignation building from deep inside him. “Let her go,” he commanded and took a step away from me.

I peered past him, still unable to see what he did. “Kane?” But he didn’t seem to hear me, and the farther he walked away from me, the harder it became to read his emotions.

“Kane?” I said again and tried to catch up, but as I took another step, suddenly a strange ripple reverberated through the fabric of the shadows, distorting my view.

I rubbed at my eyes and squinted.

“Keep moving, Jade,” I heard Kane call from a far-off place. “Just take two more steps.”

I felt as if I was frozen in place, unable to move forward or backward. I saw nothing but blurry lines of gray. Where was I? What had happened?

“Jade!” Kane gripped my wrist and the next thing I knew I was being yanked through the distorted magic.

My bare arms and face stung from the contact. I blinked rapidly, rubbing at my watery eyes as the cool air brushed over my stinging, sensitive skin. “What was that?” I asked, still unable to see.

“A magical barrier to keep us out,” Kane said, his tone rough and dangerous.

“Keep us out of—” My vision cleared, and what I saw made my stomach turn.

Zoe was laid out in the shadows, her arms and legs shackled together, an IV jabbed in her arm. Leaning over her was a hunchbacked old woman with wrinkles lining her face. The woman glared up at us and snarled. Her long white hair shifted, and that was when I saw it. The syringe.

The old woman was extracting blood from Zoe’s chest just over her heart.

“Stop!” I sprang forward.

But I was too late. The woman ripped the syringe from Zoe and jabbed it into her own neck.

Flashes of dark magic blossomed over the old woman as her body seized. Rising a few feet in the air, her arms spread out and the black magic consumed her.

I took a step back, unable to control the powerful magic strumming through me, brought on by just the hint of dark forces. I’d fought against black magic before and won. I could do it again. But whatever was happening to her in that moment, she’d done to herself, and I wasn’t quite sure what I’d be fighting just yet.