Incubus of Bourbon Street (8 page)

Chapter 8

Kane and I broke apart like two teenagers caught making out in the basement.

“Sorry,” the tall blonde said, her face turning a dark shade of red. “I heard a noise and thought…oh, never mind. I just wanted to make sure everyone was okay.”

I stepped behind Kane and busied myself straightening my clothing.

Kane, on the other hand, stood with a relaxed posture, regarding the woman. “Yes, we’re more than okay.”

“Kane,” I whispered harshly and poked him in the back.

He glanced back at me, his incubus charm oozing from his welcoming eyes. Damn him. “Zoe, right?” he said to the woman as she started to descend the stairs.

She paused on the second step. “Yes. I just moved in a few days ago. Two-B.”

“Hi,” I said over Kane’s shoulder. “I’m Jade. Sorry for, ah…disturbing you.” I cut an irritated glance at Kane. “I didn’t even know the building had tenants right now.” Last I’d heard, the two apartments on the second floor were being remodeled. And the one on the other side of the door still had a lot of my stuff in it.

Her lips curled into a smile, but she bit down on her lower lip, trying to hide it. “That would explain a lot.”

“Sorry, love,” Kane said, tugging me out from behind him. “Pyper told me she rented one of the places a few days ago, but with everything going on, I forgot all about it.” He walked over to the gorgeous woman and held his hand out. “I’m Kane. It’s nice to meet you.”

She hesitated, but then clasped her hand around his and shook. “Nice to meet you.” They stared at each other for a just a moment longer than was really comfortable. I was about to say something, anything to break whatever weird connection they had going on, when Kane suddenly let go and took a step back.

Zoe stared at her hand and frowned.

“What happened?” I whispered to Kane.

He shook his head and whispered back, “Not now.”

Zoe’s head snapped up. “What are you?”

He and I exchanged a startled glance.

“Excuse me?” Kane said mildly, although suspicion was flowing from him with enough force to rival the Mississippi river. “What am I?”

“Uh…I meant, who are you? Do you live here?”

“Oh, no,” Kane said, his shoulders relaxing. “My wife and I own the building. Technically I’m your landlord, but Pyper usually takes care of everything.”

He’d said
my wife and I own the building
. A stupid smile claimed my lips. I didn’t know why those words made my insides turn to jelly. I hadn’t expected Kane to share any of his assets with me or even think of them that way. He’d owned two houses in addition to this building and the one next door before we’d ever met. Those were his. Well, except for the Cypress Settlement house he gave me as an engagement gift. He was too much.

Zoe nodded. “I see. Well, thank you for letting me rent such a wonderful apartment. I’m sorry to interrupt. That wasn’t my intention.”

“Oh, don’t worry about it,” I said, waving a hand, trying to be casual as I prayed for the floor to open up and swallow me whole. How embarrassing. She obviously knew what we were doing. I was going to kill Kane later. “Nice to meet you,” I called after her.

But she was already gone.

“What was that all about?” I asked Kane.

“What? Shaking her hand?”

“Yes.” I put my hands on my hips and stared him down.

“There was some sort of weird energy that passed between us. It wasn’t magical. I don’t know how to explain it, but it was a little uncomfortable.”

If it wasn’t magical, then there likely wasn’t anything to worry about. “She was probably disturbed by our public lewdness.”

Kane took one look at my face and started laughing. “You’re adorable.”

“And you’re despicable. I never would’ve done that here if I’d known a tenant had moved in.”

He slipped a key into my old apartment’s lock. “I don’t think we have anything to be embarrassed about. If it looked anywhere near as hot as it actually was, then we should’ve sold tickets.”

“Shut up.” I stifled a laugh as I followed him inside.

He stopped in the middle of the small apartment. It was barely five hundred square feet of space. “Now. What was it you wanted me to help you with?”

I stood just inside the door, staring down at the happy, tongue-lagging ghost who’d followed me home months ago. He was the sweetest golden retriever ever, and I missed him. “I want to figure out a way to bring Duke to our house.”

“The ghost dog?” He raised his eyebrows. “Seriously?”

“Yeah. I hate that he’s here all alone. Wouldn’t it be better if he stayed at the house?” I smiled down at Duke, who’d flopped on the floor and was gnawing away at the couch leg. Of course, since he was a ghost, he didn’t do any damage. He also didn’t shed or need to be walked or fed. But he was a good guard dog. So in my eyes, he was perfect.

“Sure. I don’t have a problem if you want to bring him home. I just don’t know how we can do it.”

“Carry a piece of chicken?” I said, only half joking.

“Can he smell anything?”

I chuckled. “I don’t know. I’m not an expert on ghost dogs.”

“We don’t have any chicken, but maybe something else from the cafe.” Kane strode back toward me and the door. But instead of leaving, he stopped right in front of me and cupped both my cheeks. Staring into my eyes, he lowered his head and kissed me so thoroughly, I was panting by the time he let go.

“Whoa,” I said and almost stumbled from my weakened knees. “What was that for?”

“For being the most amazing, sexiest woman on the planet. What happened out in the hall?” He nodded toward the door.

“Yeah?”

“Fucking hot.” He kissed me once more and then said, “I’ll be right back.”

I watched him leave and when the door shut softly behind him, I stood there transfixed by the magic still buzzing in my veins. The charge we’d built in the hallway was different than it usually was. Since he’d become a demon hunter, we’d always shared power during and after our release. This time we hadn’t. The magic consuming me was all mine. Weird. Had the fact that Kane had been suspended from the Brotherhood changed the way he gathered power? Would he be weaker now?

I sank into the hand-me-down chair, suddenly scared for Kane. Incubi gained their power through sexual energy. And the demon hunters through their daggers. Did he have any magic left?

The door swung open and Kane strode back in, holding a small white bag. “I’ve got just the thing.”

I stood. “What?”

He pulled out a bagel sandwich, complete with ham and cheese. “If he has any sense of smell, this will keep him focused.”

“True.” I grabbed the bagel sandwich and held it out for Duke.

His tail went crazy wagging back and forth as ghostly drool dripped from his jowls.

“Oh, gross.” I laughed and moved toward the door, keeping the sandwich at dog level. “Come on, boy. We’ll take you to our new home.”

He’d followed me here once. Getting him to follow me somewhere else shouldn’t be that hard, right? And it wasn’t. He had no problem trotting into the hallway and to the top of the stairs.

“Good boy,” I coaxed.

Kane closed the apartment door and locked it. His eyes were crinkled in amusement as he watched me lure my ghost dog down the stairs. He’d put up with a lot of crazy crap since I’d blown into his life. I guess this was pretty tame in comparison.

Operation Dog Transfer was going perfect right up until we hit the second floor landing. Then Duke froze, and the hair stood up on the back of his neck as he growled.

“What is it, boy?” I’d only ever seen him growl like that when the evil ghost Roy had been tormenting Pyper and me in my apartment.

Duke lowered his front shoulders and snarled.

“Whoa.” I looked up at Kane, but he appeared just as confused as I was. “Let’s go, Duke. Nothing’s there.” And there wasn’t. I had my senses wide open, and the only being I felt was Kane. The new tenant, Zoe, was nowhere to be found. And even so, her energy had been normal. I hadn’t sensed anything nefarious, and neither had Kane, despite the odd exchange they’d had. Except she was the only one who lived on the second floor, and whatever was bothering Duke was in that corridor.

“Zoe?” I called just in case. No response. I hadn’t expected there to be. She clearly wasn’t even around right then. Maybe there was some old residual ghost energy he was picking up on. I took a few steps down the stairs. “Come on, Duke. Let’s go.”

The dog turned his head, studying me with his hackles still raised, but then his eye caught the bagel sandwich. That did it. His concentration was broken and he lunged down the stairs after me.

“That’s it.” I took off down the stairs, Duke on my heels.

After we left the building, Duke trotted along with me without any issues. And right after we got back to the house Kane and I shared, Duke bounded in and made himself comfortable on an oversized chair.

I laughed and took a bite of the bagel sandwich. The dog stared at me with sad eyes. “I know, buddy. I’d share if I could.”

Kane followed me to the back of the house. I grabbed us both a bottle of water and sat with him at the table.

“So,” I said, twisting the cap on and off. “Are you doing all right?”

“Sure.” He took a long drink of his water.

“Really? Even though there’s something about you that’s disturbing the shadows and you’re being investigated by the Brotherhood?” I hated pointing out the obvious, but if he was going to act like nothing was wrong, I didn’t know what else I was supposed to do.

“Well, I’m not thrilled about it, but whatever’s happening, I know I don’t have control over it. So the only thing I can do is move forward until we have more information.” He seemed so reasonable. As if he knew once we had information we’d sort this out.

“You’re right.” I leaned over and pressed a kiss to his cheek. “Ready to go find some answers?”

He wrapped his hand around the back of my neck and kneaded his fingers into my tense muscles. “In a minute.”

I smiled at him. “Take all the time you need.”

***

Kane pulled his Lexus to a stop in front of Lucien’s home in the Bywater neighborhood. The residents were an eclectic group of artists and musicians, as well as interlopers from out of state. When we stepped onto his porch, the door opened seemingly on its own, and I registered the small magical signature as Lucien’s. He’d spelled his front door to let certain people in. I guessed we were on the list.

“Neat trick,” Kane said.

I smiled. Lucien’s house was a single shotgun double, meaning there weren’t any hallways and every room was stacked up against the other. We strolled into the living room and passed under an arch into his office.

“Hi, Jade, Kane,” he said from his position at his desk. He had three thick reference books open in front of him and a file opened on the computer. Books lined two complete walls, all of the texts pertaining to either art or witchcraft. He claimed the title Art Gallery Manager in his day job. Spinning, he waved to a small couch to his left. “Have a seat.”

“Thanks.” Kane and I sat, and I immediately went through the events of the last few days, leaving nothing out except the six angels who’d been compromised. I knew there’d be hell to pay if Chessandra found out I’d told him, but he was my second in command. He had knowledge I didn’t and if anything happened to me while Kane and I were working on the case, I needed him to have enough tools to be able to step in and help us.

“So, obviously we’re at a loss as to what’s going on in the shadows and how exactly Kane is connected to that. Any ideas on where to start?” I asked.

Lucien sat back and stretched his legs out as he appeared to process everything I’d just told him.

“I’m going to ask Bea as well. I just haven’t had a chance yet.”

He nodded and then his head snapped up. Pointing to his large shelf, he stood and walked straight to a nondescript-looking leather-bound book. Nondescript, because most of them looked exactly the same. Brown, old, gold-embossed lettering. There was a mountain of them. He handed it to me. “This is the recounting of one witch’s experience with an incubus and if I recall, there was an incident in the shadow world.”

“An incident?” I asked, thumbing through it.

“It was a long time ago when I read it, but I seem to recall a reference to an incubus having some control over the fabric of the world? I can’t exactly remember. Take a look.”

I thumbed through the text, scanning the reference. It involved a specific spell cast by a sex witch and was bound with a blood sacrifice. Nothing Kane had done or would do. I glanced up, frowning. “This doesn’t really look applicable to what we’re dealing with.”

He pursed his lips and scanned the room. “I’m afraid I don’t have much material on this because as witches, we don’t really deal with the shadows much or incubi.” He gave Kane an apologetic look. “The demon hunters and the angels would be a much better resource. Or hell, even the Coven Pointe witches. “

“Hmm,” Kane said.

I eyed him. “Explain.”

He shrugged. “We know we’re not going to get answers from the angels or the hunters.”

“I hadn’t even considered speaking to the Coven Pointe witches. They do seem to know a lot more than they let on. We just need to get them to talk to us,” I said, already dejected. The last thing I wanted to do was go ask Dayla or Fiona for help. Those witches were witches in every sense of the word.

“We could talk to Mati,” Kane said.

“Oh. And Vaughn.” My gloom lifted. Mati was a sex witch who had gotten trapped in another dimension. And Vaughn, another incubus, was her boyfriend. We’d helped save Mati from the other world not too long ago and had teamed up with Vaughn to take down his black-magic-using stepbrother. “That’s a great idea. Even if they don’t have any answers, they can get them.”

Kane stood and held his hand out to Lucien. “Thanks, man. You’ve been a great help.”

Lucien chuckled. “Not really. But glad I could point you in a direction, at least.” He met my gaze. “I’ll keep turning things over in my mind and if I come up with anything remotely interesting, I’ll call you. In the meantime, you know where I am if you need anything.”