Incubus of Bourbon Street
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Authors: Deanna Chase
Tags: #Contemporary, #Occult & Supernatural, #Fantasy, #Paranormal, #Romance
Incubus of Bourbon Street
From
New York Times
Bestselling author Deanna Chase.
Newlyweds Jade Calhoun and Kane Rouquette have barely said “I do” when there’s a disturbance in the shadow world that’s draining the energy of angels. As shadow walkers, Jade and Kane are pressed into service, tasked with the impossible mission of solving the mystery before any angels are lost…until Kane’s accused of poisoning the shadows with his incubus energy and his power is stripped.
Life goes from bad to worse when a lesser Goddess shows up, hell-bent on stealing the spirits of mortals in pursuit of a fountain of youth. Now it’s up to Jade and her coven to keep their friends safe, clear Kane’s name, and fix the shadows before one of them is lost forever.
Incubus of Bourbon Street
A Jade Calhoun Novel
Deanna Chase
Bayou Moon Publishing
Copyright © 2014 by Deanna Chase
First Edition 2014
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
ISBN ebook: 978-1-940299-20-4
ISBN Print: 978-1-940299-24-2
Interior Design: The Printed Page, Phoenix, AZ
Cover Design: Janet Holmes
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in, or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the publisher of this book.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locals, business establishments, or persons, living or dead, are entirely coincidental.
Bayou Moon Publishing
[email protected]
www.deannachase.com
Contents
Thank you to the Jade Calhoun fans. Your support of the series is amazing and humbling. As always, a huge thanks to my team: Rhonda, Angie, Dana, and Lisa. You make me look better than I am.
“Do you ever call on your magic during sex?” my best friend, Kat, asked as she tipped her glass of chardonnay to her lips.
I sputtered mid-sip and coughed. “What?”
“Oh, come on, Jade. Are you really telling me you never spice things up with a spell?” Her bright blue eyes gleamed in the soft lighting of the restaurant.
“Well…” How was I supposed to answer that? My husband was an incubus, so magic was just a part of things now, but I wasn’t sure I wanted to talk about it. And not in the middle of Muriel’s, sandwiched between two tables occupied by conservative-looking old-world New Orleans couples. “Umm, there might be some magic involved, but I don’t cast any spells.” I gave her a sly glance. “What about you? Does Lucien unleash his magic on your girly parts?”
She clasped her hand over her mouth as she giggled. “He’ll kill me if he finds out I told you…he does this thing where he trails a magical current over my skin that drives me crazy. But last night he took it a little further and…uh, it wasn’t along my skin, it was—” she lowered her voice, “—inside me.”
“Whoa, Lucien.” I raised my eyebrows in curious surprise. “I didn’t know he had it in him.”
She frowned and put her glass down. “What’s that supposed to mean? Lucien’s hot.”
Oops. “That’s not… Um, I know he’s good looking. I just think of him as more of a brother type.”
Her irritated expression vanished. “Well, that’s probably a good thing.” Then she laughed. “It’s somewhat intimidating talking about this with someone who lives with an incubus. I might be feeling a little out-sexed.”
Chuckling, I shook my head. “I don’t think magical orgasms are anything to feel insecure about.”
“Magical orgasms?” Pyper echoed too loudly as she slid into an empty chair. She wore silver pants and a tank top that matched the electric blue stripe in her dark hair. The older couple to our right both turned and gave us disapproving looks. Pyper smiled at them, her eyes dancing with mischief. “Sounds awesome, doesn’t it?” she said to them in a conspiratorial tone. “All that magic prolonging the release? Who wouldn’t—”
“Pyper!” I stared at her with amused horror. “Stop.”
She winked at the woman. “Well, I’m sure you get my meaning.”
The woman’s outrage slammed into me, nearly knocking me over.
“Oh, jeez.” I sucked down a quarter of my margarita, silently cursing my empath ability. I’d donate a kidney in exchange for a life free of other peoples’ emotions. “We can’t take you anywhere.”
“Please. I keep things interesting.” She waved the waiter down and ordered a mojito. “What’s everyone having?”
“Duck,” Kat said. “And crepes. I’ve been waiting for this all day.”
I scanned the menu. “Tuna. Definitely.”
“I’m starving,” Pyper said. “Maybe the pork chop. Or the beef medallions or—”
My phone started playing “Stairway to Heaven.” I grimaced as my friends frowned at me.
“Don’t even think about answering it,” Pyper said. “This is girls’ night. No witch business, got it?”
“But it’s Lailah.”
Kat plucked the phone from me and hit Decline. “She can leave a message.”
“Yeah, okay,” I said.
We’d been trying to have a night out together for more than two months, and every time we scheduled something, plans were either interrupted or cancelled by one thing or another. Lailah was a friend, but she was also an angel and my soul guardian. Unfortunately, more often than not her calls came with orders from the angel council. A ball of foreboding weighed heavily in my gut. What had happened now?
My phone buzzed with an incoming text. I reached for it, but Kat grabbed it and then switched it off. “No phone. The world can wait until you eat.”
I eyed her, somewhat irritated by her heavy-handedness. But mostly I was relieved. The angel council had imposed on Kane and me far too often lately. If I had to slip into the shadow world to check one more lost soul, I was going to scream. So far we’d rescued half a dozen ghosts and destroyed half a dozen more in the last four weeks. The ones we saved were shuffled into the angel realm. The ones we destroyed had been bound for Hell to be used by the demons for…well, no one really knew what the demons wanted the souls for. No doubt it wasn’t anything good. The work was satisfying, but extremely intrusive.
With my phone confiscated, I sat back, feeling relaxed for the first time all day. Girls’ night out was looking better and better.
Or it was until Pyper’s phone started ringing. She looked at the screen. “It’s Kane.” With a swipe of her finger, she answered it. “You know we’re at dinner. What’s so important it couldn’t wait?” she said by way of greeting. Then she grimaced. “Seriously?”
“What’s wrong?” I held my hand out to Kat for my phone. She didn’t fight me on it this time.
As I turned it back on, Pyper said, “There’s a disturbance in the shadows. You’ve been summoned.”
I threw a twenty down on the table for my drink. “Tell him I’ll be right there.”
She relayed my message to Kane as I took off out of the restaurant, listening to Lailah’s voicemail, which said, “There’s an emergency council meeting convening right now. The energy coming from the shadows is tainted with evil. Your presence is required.”
Kane was standing on the sidewalk, waiting for me in front of our house a few blocks over. The early evening sun shone down on his dark hair, and he squinted in my direction, holding out his hand. “They’re waiting.”
I glanced down at the dagger strapped to his belt. “The Brotherhood hasn’t called on you?” Kane and his incubus Brotherhood were demon hunters. They walked the shadows as they slipped in and out of our world all the time. A disturbance would be high on their radar.
“They did, but the angel council overruled them. And for some reason, Maximus let them.” Kane’s brow wrinkled in confusion.
“That seems…unusual,” I said, slipping my hand into his. Maximus was the leader of the Brotherhood and didn’t much care for the high angel ordering around one of his demon hunters. Kane and I didn’t have a choice, though. We’d signed a contract with the angels in order to protect my soul. But Maximus was under no obligation to the angels and often refused Kane’s services when it interfered with demon-hunter missions. Since angels were in constant danger of demons, the high angel relented more often than not.
“Very.” He tugged me inside and as soon as the door shut behind us, a bright light streamed from the ceiling.
Taking a deep breath, I nodded to Kane and together, the pair of us stepped into the light.
The world spun, flashes of white light making my eyes water. Then my feet slammed into a hard surface and for once, I managed to stay upright. Blinking hard, my vision cleared and the stark white-and-gold sanctuary came into focus. We were standing in the angel realm’s version of the Saint Louis Cathedral. The floors were white and gold checkered tiles and the murals on the walls were washed out, void of the vibrant colors I was used to. I rubbed my arms, trying to stave off the sudden chill.
The angel council stood in a line up on the dais, their expressions somber.
Chessandra, the high angel, stepped forward and gestured for us to come closer. She was dressed impeccably as always in her sleek cream pants suit, but there was something harried in her tight expression and wary onyx eyes.
I glanced around, noting the empty chairs. Usually when we were summoned, all of the angels of the realm were in attendance. Not this time.
My biological father, Drake, moved gracefully to Chessandra’s side, concern radiating from his gaze. His straight white-blond hair fell forward as he leaned in and whispered something to her.
“What’s going on?” I asked.
An elder council member in the back scowled at me. It was customary to not speak until spoken to, but I didn’t care about any of their arcane rules. I’d just been plucked from girls’ night. Someone needed to start explaining.
Kane slipped his fingers through mine, and a tingle of his humor warmed my skin. Clearly he was just as tired of their ridiculous formalities as I was.
Chessandra pretended as if I hadn’t insulted the entire council and said, “There was an incident earlier today when one of our angels went into the shadow world.”
“Nasty business,” a white-haired older woman of the council said in disgust.
Chessandra cast her an irritated glance. Her expression cleared as she focused on me again. “She was doing a routine check for viable souls when her magical abilities were suddenly severed. She said she felt as if she’d suffered a demon attack, but she saw nothing. The only reason she was able to return to us is because I recalled her when she didn’t report back at her expected time. You both are tasked with investigating the matter. This is of the highest importance.”
“Just us? We don’t get any help from the council?” I asked.
Chessandra gave me a stern look. “Ms. Calhoun, I just told you an angel suffered an invisible attack. It should be obvious to you we can’t risk any of our own getting trapped in the shadows.”
Deep-seated frustration tightened in my gut. There were warnings about making deals with the devil. No one ever cautioned against dealing with the high angel, though. Of course they wouldn’t risk one of their own. Why should they when they had a white witch and an incubus demon hunter at their beck and call?
Kane squeezed my hand, a silent show of solidarity. He was just as irritated as I was that we had to jump every time they called. Especially when it involved demons. Not that we weren’t equipped to deal with them. Kane was a demon hunter, after all.
“Right,” I said to Chessandra, my tone clipped. “But I was referring to other shadow walkers. You know, people with power who might be able to help.” I was the leader of the New Orleans’ coven, but none of my fellow witches were shadow walkers. That skill had been bestowed upon me not too long ago as part of my contract to work for the council.
“And what about the demon hunters?” Kane asked. “Will you be working with them on this? In other words, can I brief my superior on my mission?”