Ethan locks the door behind him and looks outside, eyes darting around the yard. “What does this son of a bitch look like?”
“Kinda like a small gargoyle,” I start, feeling weirded out all over again that I was dreaming about a sexy gargoyle which was no doubt a result of the incubus’s influence on me. Remembering Devin’s suggestion of lighting candles to help restore my aura, I go through the kitchen and into the library, opening a cabinet near the fireplace. All of my books on magic and witchcraft are in here, and I have every intention of organizing my magical supplies but haven’t gotten to it yet. I dig around in a box for the candles and holders.
“What are you doing?” Ethan asks, watching me pour a circle of salt on the floor.
“Trying to restore my aura,” I say, using magic to light the candles as I sit in the middle of the circle. “Though I’m just now questioning if restoring my aura is like refilling the buffet. Is it going to attract the incubus?”
“If it does, then let’s use it to our advantage.” Ethan pulls the heavy demon encyclopedia off a shelf and sets it on the coffee table, flipping through pages until he finds the entry about the incubus.
“Huh,” Nik notes, taking the book into his lap. “If the female counter-part had targeted you, she would consume your testicles.” Both he and Ethan pale a bit. “They’re basically a parasite, draining what they can before consuming your physical body. Do you have any idea where you picked it up?”
I look up from the candles, shaking my head. “No. I mean…where do incubi hang out to even get exposed?”
Ethan shrugs and then it hits us both at the same time.
“What?” Nik asks, reading our expressions.
“The night we fought the ghouls,” I start, cringing a bit at having to say this out loud.
“We had sex in my Jeep,” Ethan finishes, not ashamed or embarrassed. “And you…you did something.”
“Something kinky?” Nik asks, shifting his gaze back and forth between us both.
“Well, yes, but I know what Ethan is referencing.” I hold up my hands and magic sparks around my fingers. It’s not the flickers of fire, but something else. “I pulled energy in and then let it go when… when I, well, you know.”
“Ahhh.” Nik leans back, trying not to smirk. “You accidentally summoned this thing.”
“Oh my god.” I put my hands in my head. “I did. There was already negative energy at the apartment, and I could feel something lurking, but it wasn’t on our plane. I didn’t realize it at the time since we were a little hyper-focused on killing ghouls.”
“So I really am that good,” Ethan says, lips pulled into a cocky grin.
“Oh my god,” I repeat, covering my face.
“As much of an accomplishment as that is,” Nik begins, running his finger over a section of text in the book. “We, uh, may have a bigger issue at hand than we thought.”
The flames on the three candles in front of me double in size, and wax drips onto the hardwood floor. “What is it?”
“Once an incubus consumes enough energy, they can spawn demon babies.”
“Great,” Ethan huffs. “We need to come up with a plan on how to kill this motherfucker.”
“Well, it seems one fool-proof way to bring it to our world is to tempt it,” Nik goes on. “If you two—” He makes a crude gesture with his hands, forming a circle with his thumb and index finger and using his other fingers to slide in and out. “—the demon will want to come,” he cuts off snickering, “come and take as much energy as possible. This has already been going on for a few days and your energy, Anora, is much stronger than that of a regular human. It might not need much more.”
I stare at him incredulously, certain I didn’t hear what I just did. “That’s the plan?”
“I like it,” Ethan says right away. “Makes sense to me.”
“But who’s going to kill the demon when we’re up in our room?”
“Hunter?” Ethan suggests and I shake my head, trying to center myself and restore my aura. Ethan’s phone rings again and he ignores it, getting up to get my Book of Shadows instead. I close my eyes, remembering a meditation I used to do when spirits were the scariest thing in my life.
Imagine yourself bathed in white light. Focusing on my breath, I inhale and hold it. Feel the pureness around you. Touching your soul. Exhaling, I wait a beat and then inhale again. I can’t shut off my mind, but after repeating that five times, I do feel a little more grounded and not as spent. Blinking, I get up right as Ethan’s phone rings again.
With a sigh he gets up, sees that it’s Sam, and declines the call. “It can wait,” he tells me. “We have more urgent matters to attend to. But she calls again and this time he turns his phone to silent. Blowing out the candles, I step out of the salt circle and sit next to Ethan on the couch.
His leg brushes against mine and normally, I wouldn’t think anything of it. his skin is so warm and it feels so good and I know it’ll feel even better to have him against me—naked.
“Fuck,” I say under my breath and scoot away.
Ethan gives me a what the hell look.
“I can’t help but think how good it feels when your skin is against mine. And now I know I shouldn’t think about it and it’s making me think about it even more.”
“Maybe you two should separate,” Nik suggests.
“Now I’m thinking about it.” Ethan gets up and walks to the window, looking out at the front yard. “Your aunt,” he starts. “She sent demons she couldn’t physically kill so she trapped them. If we can’t figure out a way to bring the incubus into our plane and kill it at the same time, that’s what we’ll have to do.”
“Yeah, sounds great. Just…how?”
“I was hoping you’d come up with something. No pressure or anything,” he adds with an apologetic half-smile.
“Right.” I pace to the other side of the library, trying to come up with something. “Creating my own pocket dimension is out of the question, but I might be able to open one just long enough to shove the incubus inside. We’ll have to hope nothing gets out at the same time.” I turn and see the books Ruby gave me in a stack on one of the armchairs. “Wait, I think I—” I stop short, feeling like the words are on the tip of my tongue. “—the pentacle.” It’s fresh in my mind because I paid close attention while reading the section on it in the Magic 101 textbook. I knew what I told the hunters was right and reading it in black and white was validating. “Each point of the star represents an element: earth, air, fire, water, and spirit.” I stop again, mind racing. “If I had done this a few weeks ago, I might have actually trapped Xozon in the circles.”
“Elaborate, Anora.”
“Right.” I pick up the textbook and sit on the couch, waiting a beat for Ethan and Nik to join me. “My mistake with X was not realizing how much of a hold he had on me. But the incubus isn’t anywhere near as powerful. The spell I use to call spirits works best when I’m in their realm because they don’t have the power—or energy—to appear here.”