Incubus of Bourbon Street (18 page)

“About?” He rolled to his side and glanced at Bea.

She didn’t look up as she gathered her herbal remedies.

“Witch stuff, I’m sure.” I smiled at him. “I’ll check on Pyper afterward.”

He didn’t look happy we were going to talk in another room, but he nodded anyway. No doubt he could use a moment to collect himself.

I squeezed his hand before I let go and then followed Bea out of the room.

Lailah was sitting at the kitchen table, both hands wrapped around a cup of tea. Bea sat next to her as I rummaged around in the cupboards until I found a fresh bag of sugar cookies. Tearing the bag open, I joined them at the table and then gobbled down two cookies before passing them around.

Bea shook her head as Lailah joined me in my cookie scarf-a-thon.

“We have a situation,” Bea said.

“Would it involve the fact that we left a demon in the shadows and that a lesser Goddess is trying to eat peoples’ spirits?” I bit into another cookie.

“Yes…and no.” Bea poured herself a cup of tea but made no move to drink it.

I glanced at Lailah. She was studying her cookie like it was the last speck of food on the planet. “What’s going on?”

“It’s Pyper,” Lailah said quietly.

“What about her?” I put my cup down and swallowed hard. “Is she hurt?”

Lailah shook her head. “No. Not physically. At least, not yet.” She frowned. “Lucien filled us in on the Goddess and what she’s doing here.”

“Okay.” My blood rushed to my head as my patience started to wane. “Just tell me what’s going on.”

Lailah pushed back from the table and blew out a long breath. “Charlie and Kat came back to us without any hold from Genesis. Pyper didn’t.”

My gut clenched as I realized what they were trying to tell me. “Pyper’s still compromised by an extra soul, isn’t she?” I hadn’t seen the soul leave. I hadn’t broken the hold Genesis had on her. I’d only kicked the Goddess’s ass and brought Pyper and Kane home.

Lailah nodded. “And that means Genesis can control Pyper no matter where she is. We can’t protect her.”

A chill crawled over my body. “At all?”

The angel shook her head slowly. “We can try, but all it takes is Genesis calling the soul back to her. And if that happens, Pyper could disappear right before our eyes.”

Chapter 18

I jumped out of my chair. “Then I’ll just expel the extra soul. I did it with Kat. I can do it with Pyper, too.”

Lailah shook her head sadly. “I wish it was that easy. The soul occupying Pyper is magical. Whoever it belonged to before was likely a witch. It’s started to fuse with hers.”

I sank back down onto the chair, my gut feeling as if the wind had just been knocked out of me. “Dammit! We need protection wards or something. Anything until we can defeat the Goddess.

“We will,” Bea said mildly. “But all that takes too long. Complex wards take time to cure. It’s going to take some time.”

“So what? We just sit here and wait for Genesis to take her?” I couldn’t believe how calm they were being about the situation. If this had been one of the coven witches, I was sure they’d be springing into action. “I can’t—”

“Jade.” Bea put her hand up to stop the onslaught of my rant. “Lailah has a plan. We just need to get it cleared first.”

I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself. “By who?”

“The high angel.”

“Chessandra?” I asked incredulously. “She doesn’t care about regular people. She only cares about souls.”

“Exactly,” Lailah said. “If this foreign soul stays with Pyper, eventually they’ll either completely merge or one of them will take over. Since the foreign soul is tainted with energy from Hell, it’s likely it’ll cause damage to Pyper’s pure one. The only thing we can do at this point is ask Chessandra to take her to the angel realm, where they can keep an eye on her to make sure she isn’t harmed in any way.”

“Is that the only option?” Kane asked from behind me.

I startled and twisted to look up at him. “Dang it. I had no idea you were there.”

He put his hand on my shoulder and straightened me out. “Will they take care of her?” Clearly he’d heard most of the conversation.

“I think so.” Lailah fingered another cookie but didn’t eat it. “At least until we can deal with the lesser Goddess.”

“Then we’ll request a meeting with Chessandra.” Kane glanced down at me. “Are you okay with that?”

“I…” I closed my eyes and gave a little shake of my head. “I don’t know. We need to ask Pyper.”

“I really don’t think she has a choice,” Lailah said, all her sympathetic nervousness gone. Now that she had Kane on board, it appeared she was confident her plan was the way to go.

“Let’s talk to her first.” I stood and glared at all of them. I knew they had Pyper’s best interest at heart, but I couldn’t just send her to the angels without clearing it with her first. While they weren’t evil, they didn’t exactly care about individuals either. If something happened to Pyper’s soul, there was no telling what they’d do.

“Of course we’ll talk to her first,” Kane said and placed his hand on the small of my back. “We’ll check on her now.”

Lailah sent him a relieved smile as we left the room.

“I don’t like it,” I said, standing outside the guest room door.

“I don’t either, but I can’t let that evil thing get her hands on Pyper again. She has no way to defend herself. As long as she’s in the angel realm, the Goddess can’t get to her.”

He had a point. No one could cross the borders of the angel realm except angels and those they invited. Their magic couldn’t either. Physically, Pyper would be safe…as long as we forced Chessandra to give her word they’d protect Pyper
and
her soul.

“Ready?” Kane asked, gesturing to the door.

“Ready.”

He knocked once.

A faint “Come in” sounded from inside the guestroom.

We found Kat and Charlie inside with Pyper. The three of them were sitting cross-legged on the bed with a bag of red licorice in the middle of them.

“Hey,” I said softly.

They all waved and gave us tired smiles.

“You guys having a party without us?” Kane teased.

“Yeah, one with Red Vines and wine.” Kat held up her glass of Cabernet.

I laughed. “Sounds like the best kind of party.”

Charlie got up. “Here, have a seat. I’m going in search of something with a little more substance.” She winked at me as she passed us.

“Me, too,” Kat said as she stood and wobbled a little. She giggled. “Oops. Guess that wine went to my head.”

“I’m pretty sure there’s some leftover pasta in the fridge,” I said watching her stumble after Charlie.

“Lightweight,” Pyper called after her.

Kat raised her middle finger and flipped her off without looking back.

Pyper just laughed, her face lighting up.

It brought tears to my eyes. I didn’t want to ship her off to the angel realm.

“Well, take a seat and tell me whatever it is you have to say,” she ordered and patted the bed.

Kane chuckled and sat at the end of the bed, while I grabbed a Red Vine and leaned against the headboard.

“Did anyone fill you in on what happened?” Kane asked.

Pyper nodded. “Lailah and Kat did.”

“Do you still have a strange desire to work a corporate job?” I asked and made a face.

Pyper let out a long sigh and nodded. “It’s really weird.”

“There’s a reason for that.” I met Kane’s gaze and nodded for him to continue.

But before he could say anything, Pyper said, “I’m still carrying an extra soul, aren’t I?”

Kane nodded. “Yes. And Lailah says you’re in danger if you stay here. The lesser Goddess has complete control over that soul. She thinks you should go to the angel realm until we can deal with the Goddess.”

Pyper took in a sharp breath.

“Lailah says it’s the only place you’ll be safe,” I added, trying to keep my tone neutral. I didn’t want her to go. The entire idea made me uncomfortable. But I didn’t have a better plan.

She pulled her hair out of its neatly tied ponytail and went to work on redoing it. A sure sign she was nervous. I couldn’t blame her. Then her blue eyes flashed as she met Kane’s gaze. “I’ll do it, but you have to promise to take that bitch down.”

He moved and sat next to her, pulling her to him. “That you can count on.”

I slipped off the bed, preparing to give them a few minutes alone together, but Pyper reached out and clasped my wrist. “Wait.”

“What is it?” I asked.

“I just wanted—” Her eyes widened and her face paled as she stared past me near the door.

“Pyper?” Kane asked, his voice a mix of panic and concern.

I glanced from her to the place near the door. Nothing was there. Nothing I could see, anyway. But awe and wonder, mixed with shock, burst from Pyper. Her energy took on a lightness that I usually associated with joy.

“Pyper?” Kane nudged her slightly to get her attention.

“What do you see?” I asked her quietly.

“Not what. Who.” She turned to me, tears standing in her bright eyes. Then her other hand wrapped around Kane’s as she started to tremble.

“Who is it, Pyps?” Kane whispered.

“It’s Mom.” She let go of both of us and crawled off the bed, her hand outstretched.

Kane shot me a worried glance. “Do you feel anything out of the ordinary? Any evil or dark magic or anything?”

I shook my head, transfixed by the joy on Pyper’s face. “No. Not at all. Has her mom passed?” I asked in a hushed tone.

He bent his head to mine. “Yes.”

“I think she’s here.”

We watched tears stream down Pyper’s face as she choked out, “Where have you been all this time? How come I haven’t seen you before?” Her hand squeezed as if she was holding hands with someone. Raw emotion shone in her wet eyes and then her lips curled into a small smile. She met Kane’s eyes. “Mom says she has been here the whole time, but I couldn’t see her. It appears my time spent sharing my body with a spirit has awakened my seer senses.”

“That’s wonderful,” Kane said, happiness for her radiating off him.

“Yeah.” Pyper nodded and then she laughed. “Mom also says she’s been watching you, Kane.”

Kane let out a startled groan. “Seriously? Tell her I’m profoundly sorry about anything she’s seen.”

Pyper laughed and shook her head, still appearing to be listening to her mother. “She can hear you just fine and she says she’s proud of you, that she’s thankful you’ve—” she choked back a small sob, “—been watching over me all these years.” She sniffed and nodded.

“It’s the least I can do after she created such a generous and supportive daughter,” Kane said as he rose from the bed and went to stand next to Pyper.

My heart sang with joy that Pyper was getting a moment with her mother, but I felt like an intruder. Pyper loved me and I loved her, but Kane was her family. Her best friend. And that wasn’t a relationship I wanted to get in the middle of. I pressed against the headboard and clasped my hands together, trying to fade into the background.

“Mom’s laughing at you,” Pyper said and ran a palm down her cheek. Then she sobered and straightened as she appeared to be taking something in. After a few moments she nodded and clutched Kane’s arm, leaning into him. “Oh my God.”

“Is she gone?” Kane guessed.

“Yeah…she told me to go with the angels. That they’d take care of me no matter what happens.” She glanced back at me. “And that my soul is important. They won’t want to mess with it.”

I raised a curious eyebrow. “Really? I wonder what that means.”

Pyper shook her head. “I have no idea. But she seemed pretty adamant about it.”

“Well, all souls are important to the angels. We already know that. We just need to make sure they don’t go trying to take it from you.” The physical memory of my soul being ripped from me was still enough to bring me to my knees if I let it.

Fear rippled from Pyper, and I wanted to kick myself for scaring her.

“I’m sorry,” I said. “I’m told what happened to me was highly unusual. I’m sure it’s not anything to worry about.”

“No. Don’t be sorry. It’s important to remember they aren’t completely trustworthy.” She wrapped her arms around herself and shivered. “I feel weird.”

Kane chuckled and then pulled her into a sympathetic hug. “Don’t we all?”

She hiccupped through a small sob as she buried her face in his chest. “Stop trying to make me laugh.”

“I wasn’t. Not really.” He kissed the top of her head and met my gaze.

It was time.

Chapter 19

Kane, Pyper, and I stood together in the living room as Lailah raised her arms and called the light.

A second later, Chessandra and my father, Drake, appeared.

“Jade,” my father said. “It’s good to see you’re well.”

“Well” was relative. And I didn’t especially want to see him. I recently found out he was my father, and I barely knew him. He’d left my mom before I was even born for his mate, Chessandra. Every angel had one. It was only a matter of time before they found each other. It was a connection humans didn’t share. I forced a tight smile. “Hello.”

“What information do you have?” Chessandra asked. She never was one for niceties.

“We haven’t seen your missing angel. But we think we’re getting closer to what’s going on with the shadows.”

“And?”

“Nothing definitive yet,” I hedged. I hadn’t told anyone what I’d felt when the demon had been trying to rip through the fabric of the shadows. I needed to talk to Kane about it first. And possibly Maximus, even though going back to the Brotherhood was just about the last thing I wanted to do.

Chessandra narrowed her eyes, suspicion staring back at me.

I stifled a sigh and went for what we did know. I told her everything we’d learned about Genesis. “She eats spirits in order to maintain youth. So it’s possible she’s the one draining the angels. According to Lucien’s research, she also has to bring one angel to the demon she made her fountain of youth deal with…and as much as I don’t want to even think about it, it’s likely she has your missing angel.”

Chessandra’s fists clenched. “We need to know what’s going on with the shadows.”

“You’ll know when we know,” I said calmly.