Incubus (57 page)

“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.

“I’m not sure,” I said. “We found something at the mission.”

“When was this?” Gretchen turned on Lucas.

“You went back to the mission?” Dad asked with a frown, echoing Gretchen’s disapproval.

“It was something one of the kids at school said,” I pressed on. “We didn’t want to bother you

guys until we knew more, just in case it turned out to be nothing.” I glanced at Lucas. He watched me,

eyes mirroring the tension we’d both felt since leaving the mission. Only part of it was tied to our

discovery, but the Guard didn’t need to know about the almost-kiss.

“What did you find?” Hale asked, setting his fork down.

I looked back at Lucas. “You tell them,” he murmured. “You’re the one who figured it out.”

“What if,” I felt my cheeks redden, suddenly acutely aware of how crazy this sounded. But

everyone was listening. Even Thane put his fork down, waiting. I cleared my throat. “The floor of the

mission,” I started again. “Most of it’s covered by this one huge round stone. It’s got these carvings,

like the ones on our daggers. But there are more symbols that I’ve never seen before, all around the

stone.”

“When you say, ‘like the ones on our daggers,’” Dad began.

“They’re exactly the same,” Lucas said, anticipating him. “No question. Braedyn spotted them

first, but we both recognized the symbols immediately.” Lucas gave Dad a humorless grin. “It’s not

like they’re easy to confuse with something else.” The room grew silent, dinner laying forgotten for

the moment.

“Go on, Braedyn,” Hale said quietly.

“We know Ais came to Puerto Escondido looking for the seal, hoping to open it for the Lilitu to

come through, right?” I asked. Hale nodded, waiting for me to get to the point. I took another breath.

“What if the monks found the seal centuries ago, and built their mission to hide it? What if that
stone

is
the seal?”

For a long moment, no one spoke. Hale sat back slowly, lost in thought. Thane and my dad traded a

glance.

“Hm. Interesting.” Dad picked up his fork, spooling a strand of spaghetti around it absently.

“It does make a kind of sense,” Hale said.

I’d expected a bigger reaction. Something closer to shock and amazement, not this calm

consideration of the idea. Lucas glanced at me, sharing my surprise at the group’s measured response.

“How does that make sense?” he asked Hale.

But it was Thane who answered us. “Puerto Escondido has been a stronghold of the Guard for

centuries. This is one of the few places on earth where the Guard has maintained an almost continual

presence.” Lucas and I turned to stare at Thane. “We’ve long known that this place has some kind of

significance to the Lilitu, but what exactly?” Thane shrugged unhappily. “Too much of the history of

Puerto Escondido has been lost.”

Gretchen gave a little laugh of disbelief. “Lost? If those monks knew they were sitting on top of

the seal, how exactly do you lose track of information that significant?”

“Off the top of my head? I suspect the Lilitu had something to do with it,” Thane snapped.

“Regardless,” Hale said. “We’ve got our new priorities. Thane, I need you to dig into this. Find out

whatever you can. Make some calls.”

Thane nodded.

“Gretchen, you and Matthew swing by the mission tomorrow. Recon only.”

“On it,” Gretchen said.

“That means no hunting, you two,” Hale said, gesturing at Matthew and Gretchen with his fork.

“You find any trace of Lilitu presence, you report back immediately.”

“I think it’s time for us to do a full inventory of the armory,” Dad said.

“Right.” Hale and Dad exchanged a grim look. “We’ll start tomorrow.”

With that, everyone turned back to their food, lost in unhappy thoughts. Everyone except for Lucas

and me.

“That’s it?” I asked. “You’re sending Gretchen and Matthew to swing by the mission?”

“We don’t have the resources to put a guard on the place full time,” Hale said around a bite of

spaghetti. “But we’ll add it to our rounds.” He took another bite, ending the conversation.

“What about us?” Lucas asked. “What should we be focusing on?”

Hale looked up, but Dad answered before he had a chance to swallow his food. “School.”

“But, we can help.” Lucas looked at Gretchen, hoping for some support. She avoided his gaze. He

looked around the table, frustration edging into anger. “You wouldn’t even know about the seal if it

weren’t for Braedyn and me.”

“So, as a reward for stupidly risking your safety, you want us to let you throw your future away?”

Dad spoke quietly, but there was a dangerous edge to his voice. Lucas glanced at me helplessly.

“The boy has a point,” Thane murmured. “What good will school do either of them if the Lilitu

win?”

Dad’s fork hit the edge of his plate with a sharp clatter. “School matters. Braedyn’s education

matters. It matters to me, because it means we live in hope. I am fighting to give Braedyn a future. In

this future, she graduates high school. She goes to college. She builds a life of meaning for herself.

I’m not giving that up. It’s what she deserves.”

I felt my chest tighten. Hot tears sprang into my eyes. Dad believed in me absolutely, and listening

to him talk, I could almost see the future he dreamed of.

“How?” Thane glanced at me impersonally. “She is Lilitu, Murphy. What kind of future do you

really think she’ll have? Marriage? Children? These things are impossible for her.”

“That’s not true,” Lucas said. His whole body was coiled tight with anger. Thane eyed him,

unmoved.

“If you think the Guard will allow her to take the life of a human man in order to create a Lilitu

child, you’ve missed the entire point of our existence,” Thane said. He turned back to his plate,

dismissing the entire conversation.

“This discussion is moot anyway,” Hale said. “We’ve got bigger problems.”

“You’re fools if you believe that,” Thane said around a mouth of spaghetti. “More immediate

problems, yes. But bigger problems?”

“Enough,” Dad said, pushing back from the table and standing to loom over Thane. “She has done

nothing to earn your distrust.”

“She’s Lilitu, Murphy,” Thane said, sounding almost bored. “She earned my distrust the day she

drew her first breath.”

“Sit down,” Hale commanded. But Dad didn’t budge.

“It’s no wonder you drove Karayan away,” Dad said through gritted teeth. “You don’t have the

capacity for fatherly love.” That got Thane’s attention.

“Karayan should have been a warning to us all,” Thane hissed, lurching to his feet. “Instead of

trying to raise up another demon, we should have drowned it at birth.”

Dad lunged across the table, grabbing Thane by the throat. Chaos erupted. Gretchen and Matthew

tried to pull Thane back while Hale worked to pry Dad’s hands free from his throat. Everyone was

shouting.

Lucas turned toward me, pleading with his eyes.

“If I ever have children,” I said, surprised by the strength in my voice. “They will be
human.
”

This pronouncement cut through the chaos, leaving a stony silence in its wake. Dad turned to look

at me, uncomprehending. Hale took advantage of the moment to wrest Dad back from Thane. Thane

was breathing hard. His hands lifted to massage his throat, but he kept his glare fixed on Dad.

Everyone else in the room was watching me.

“I don’t—” Dad started. “Braedyn?”

“Sansenoy made me an offer,” I said. Uncertainty edged a tremor into my voice, but the time had

come to tell him. “He has the power to make me human.”

Dad’s face lit from within. Unbidden, tears glistened in his eyes. He grabbed me, pulling me into a

fierce hug. “God... thank you, God,” he murmured into my hair.