Incubus of Bourbon Street (2 page)

His question seemed like a no brainer. The angels and the Brotherhood had the same mission: to keep people safe from demons. Only, the angels were more concerned with people’s souls, and the hunters were more interested in destroying demons. The two went hand in hand, but neither party was very fond of the other. All of our shadow world missions were classified. If Kane didn’t tell the Brotherhood about our orders, he could be called into a demon battle at any time, leaving me to deal with the mission on my own.

Chessandra studied him carefully. Then with a flick of her wrist, a door to the right swung open. “Follow me. Both of you.”

I stared at Drake, who stepped back into line with the other angels. He wouldn’t meet my gaze. Damn, that wasn’t a good sign.

Kane and I followed Chessandra into her private office.

“Have a seat,” she said and perched on the edge of her desk.

I had a sense of déjà vu from the last time we’d been there. She had the same contemplative expression on her face and the same authoritative air about her.

We did as we were told and waited while she flipped through an old leather-bound notebook. “Maximus isn’t sympathetic to our cause.”

Kane and I looked at each other. Then he turned to her. “I’m not sure I understand. Maximus is fully dedicated to ridding our world of demons.”

She nodded. “Yes. He is. But he also has a grudge against us. He resents the fact that we don’t fight the demons ourselves. That we employ witches and lower-level angels to do that work for us. He believes we think too highly of ourselves and that we’re the reason demons exist in the first place.”

I had to admit, I kind of agreed with him. The angels of the angel realm saw the world in black and white and held little compassion for those beneath them. They only cared about whether or not a soul was safe and useful to their cause. I still wasn’t sure what their end game was. All I knew was that when I’d been sharing my soul with Meri, a former fallen angel, they’d voted to give my soul to her because they thought she’d be more valuable than I was, even though it was mine and always had been. In the end, taking it from me had proven to be a lot more difficult than they’d thought and it had torn in half. Thanks to my aunt and a deal with the not-so-angelic Chessandra, my soul had been repaired, but it hadn’t been pleasant.

“With all due respect, Chessandra,” Kane said, “I don’t think it matters how Maximus feels about the angel council. What matters is my ability to do my job. I think it would be far more advantageous to everyone if I’m able to share information.”

“It matters what Maximus thinks,” the high angel said. “Far more than you know. But considering the circumstances, I’ll allow you to inform your superior of my orders. That is all you’re allowed to divulge, however.”

“What else would we say?” So far, all we knew was one angel had been mysteriously attacked by…something. While I agreed the incident was alarming, we still didn’t have any solid information and what if the angel was mixed up in some dark forces of her own? Despite their name, not every angel was in fact, always one hundred percent saintly.

Chessandra let out a deep sigh. Frowning, she waved her hand. Behind her desk, the wall shimmered and then seemed to disappear as if a veil were lifted, revealing a hospital-like room. Inside were half a dozen young women lying down, hooked up to IVs. Each one was pale and gaunt in appearance. “The incident wasn’t just one angel. It was all of them.”

Chapter 2

I let out a tiny gasp as I stared through the magical veil at the recovering angels. At least, I hoped they were recovering. It was hard to tell, since none of them appeared to be awake.

“How did this happen?” Kane asked, his voice low and controlled.

Chessandra waved her hand again, closing the veil. “They were all caught in the shadows today, but no one else knows their energy was drained except Drake and my personal physician. As far as the rest of the council is concerned, only one angel was trapped and lost her powers. It’s imperative that we keep this development quiet. Otherwise, all the angels, including the low-level ones, will be in danger. One angel losing her powers is easily explained—I can say a spell backfired or a demon attacked her or she fell ill. But if word gets out that six collapsed due to the conditions of the shadow world, then evil beings will start planning attacks.”

I sat straight up, my back rigid as the implications of what she’d just said hit me hard. Only really powerful beings could shadow walk: sex witches, white witches who’d been granted the ability, incubi, angels, and demons. But all spirits could. It was unlikely a witch or incubus would go after an angel. But a demon? Definitely.

And if an evil spirit or entity managed to trap an angel in the shadows with this new disruption, the angel’s soul would be in serious danger. Shadow walking wasn’t difficult for those of us who had the gift. It wouldn’t be hard to take an angel with you. All one had to do was grab hold of an angel and imagine the shadows until the fabric between the two worlds faded away. Then the shadow walker and angel could cross over. Chessandra had good reason to be worried.

“If I hadn’t sent them out in a group,” Chessandra continued and started pacing, “we might have lost someone. When no one returned, I knew there was a problem and summoned them back. Had they not been under my direct command, they would’ve been trapped there. Lost for good.” Her hands started to shake. She glanced down at them and then hastily clasped them together. “That’s why this is top secret. The shadow world is too dangerous for us now. And too many beings have access. We’re vulnerable. I won’t have that. I need you to figure out the problem and come up with a plan to fix it before any souls are lost. And I’m not just talking about angels here. If we’re attacked, humans will be next, and we won’t be able to do anything about it.”

I sat back in the chair, processing. Chessandra was freaking out. I’d never seen the high angel lose her cool like this before. Not even when talking about angels being taken into Hell, which was by far the worst thing for an angel. But this was different—an unknown. She clearly had no idea what to do to keep her angels safe, other than send a white witch and an incubus in to investigate while trying to keep the news under wraps.

“All right,” Kane said. “We’ll investigate tonight and report back in the morning after I talk with Maximus.”

“Be sure you do not divulge what I just told you about my angels, Mr. Rouquette. I don’t distrust the Brotherhood, but in organizations there are always leaks. Remember, one angel was affected and that’s it.”

Kane’s expression didn’t change. “Understood.”

“And you, Ms. Calhoun…” Chessandra paused and eyed me.

Kane’s hand tightened around mine when she said Calhoun. It was the second time she’d used my maiden name. I still hadn’t changed my last name despite the fact that Kane and I had been married for two months. I knew he wanted me to, but I hadn’t gotten around to it yet.

“Yes?” I asked.

She crossed her arms over her chest. “Use of your coven is off limits.”

“You do realize that’ll weaken my magical abilities, right?” I couldn’t call on the coven’s collective when I was in the shadows anyway, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t be useful for other spells I might need to get the job done.

“It’s too risky. You’re powerful enough.”

I swallowed a frustrated grunt. I was glad she thought so. I wasn’t so sure.

Kane stood up and tugged on my hand for me to join him. “We’ll be in touch,” he told Chessandra.

I rose and asked, “Will they be all right? The angels?”

Chessandra nodded slowly. “They’re recovering. The physician expects them to be back on their feet within a week or so.”

“Good.” The image of our resident angel Lailah lying in a hospital bed, the life nearly drained out of her, rushed through my head. A chill rippled over my spine, making the vision feel all too real. I’d seen enough of my friends injured by mystical forces to know what that felt like. Sympathy for Chessandra hit me hard, and I reached out, taking her hand in mine. “We’ll do our best.”

She stared at our connection for a moment, then pulled her hand back. Her expression turned hard. “You’ll do better than your best. You’ll fix the shadows or you’ll die trying.”

I opened my mouth, ready to tell her exactly what she could do with her orders, but was cutoff when she waved her hand once again.

This time, my entire world blurred into shades of white. And when everything cleared, Kane and I were once again standing in our living room.

“What a bitch,” I said, my heart pounding with anger.

Kane stood still beside me, a calm expression on his face as frustration streamed off him. If I hadn’t been an empath and felt the tension coating my skin, I never would have known. “Try not to let her get to you, love.”

I gave him a side-eye glance. “You’ve got to be kidding me. Don’t act like she didn’t get under your skin, ’cause you can’t hide from me.” I wrapped my arms around him and gazed up into his handsome face. My lips twitched into a small teasing smile. “Come on, Kane. Tell me how you really feel, just this once.”

He shook his head slowly. “No. It’ll only encourage you.”

“To do what?”

“Feed your irritation. And since you already know I agree with you that she’s a bitch, why don’t we move on to something more important. Like dinner?” He slipped out of my embrace and tugged me toward the kitchen.

“Dinner.” I sighed. I was supposed to have crepes and tuna. Now I was probably looking at toast. I couldn’t even remember the last time one of us went shopping. “Is there anything in the fridge?”

Kane pulled the stainless steel door open and grinned.

I peeked over his shoulder and spotted take-out containers that hadn’t been there earlier. “Where’d those come from?”

He reached in, grabbed the containers, and handed me a note that had been taped to the top one.

“Pyper! Oh, man, I love that girl.” Pyper was Kane’s best friend and business partner. While she didn’t make it a habit of just walking into our house, she did have a key in case of emergencies. And having to run out during dinner definitely qualified. At least, tonight it did. I was starving. “What’d she get us?”

Kane flipped the tops on the containers. “Crepes, tuna, and steak.” He opened another smaller Styrofoam bowl. “And gumbo.”

“God, now I love her more.”

Kane chuckled and gave me a mischievous grin.

“Stop.” I swatted his arm. Pyper was bisexual, and he never missed a chance to make some inappropriate innuendo when the opportunity arose.

He laughed and went to work on heating up the food.

I skipped the wine we usually had with dinner and filled two water glasses. After placing them on the table, I sat and texted Pyper,
Thank you!

She replied with an emoticon happy face.

We really did have great friends.

Kane brought the food over, giving me the crepes and the tuna, while he took the gumbo and the beef. I smiled at him, loving that he knew what I wanted without even having to ask. He kissed the top of my head and then sat next to me. He raised his water glass. “To enjoying dinner.”

I mimicked his motion and said, “To spending quality time with my husband.”

His expression softened as he took my hand and kissed my palm.

We ate in silence, both pretending we were a normal couple who hadn’t been ordered to fix a whole other dimension.

***

We’d just finished eating dinner when the doorbell rang. “I got it,” I called to Kane and headed to the front of our shotgun double home. Before I even opened the door, the angel’s refreshing energy washed over me. I smiled and pulled the door open.

Lailah stood on our front porch, her honey-blond hair piled high on her head. Her eye makeup was smoky and her lips bright red.

“Where are you headed off to tonight?” I asked, waving her in.

“I had a date to see the new production
Witches Don’t Cry
at the theatre, but then orders came down to check on you and Kane.” She swept past me and headed into the kitchen without waiting for me to answer.

“Alrighty then.” I closed the door and followed her.

She had her head buried in the fridge while Kane finished loading the dishwasher. The scene was so domesticated it was ridiculous. Usually Kane was off hunting demons and I was busy with the coven. And on other nights, Kane was at his strip club overseeing business, and I was in my glass studio making glass beads to sell to jewelry designers. I couldn’t even remember the last time we’d eaten dinner at home.

Lailah pulled a bottle of lemonade out of the fridge and then slumped against the counter. She took a long drink before asking, “When are you going to investigate the shadows?”

“We were going to go just as soon as we finished cleaning up.” I waved toward Kane, who was wiping down the counter.

“Where?” she asked.

I glanced at Kane.

He shrugged.

“I guess at the club.” I hated walking into the shadows from our house. It just felt too invasive to do that from our sanctuary. Plus, there was a portal beneath the club, and had anything breached it, we’d be able to tell.

“That’s what I figured.” She took another long drink. “I’ve been ordered to keep tabs on what you two are up to, but to stay away from the investigation. Want to tell me why?” Her big blue eyes were bright with suspicion.

“Guh!” I couldn’t help the outburst. What was wrong with Chessandra? If she didn’t want us to talk about the investigation, she shouldn’t have said anything to Lailah.

Kane gave me a slight warning glance. “Did she tell you what happened today?”

“Something about an angel passing out in the shadows.” She eyed me, and I had the suspicion she could read my mind. She’d been able to before when a spell had gone wrong, but as far as I knew that particular ability had faded away.

“Right,” Kane said. “She was attacked, and we’re going to investigate. Chessandra doesn’t want to risk any more of her angels getting hurt.”

Lailah never took her eyes from me while Kane was talking. “There’s more going on.”