Incubus of Bourbon Street (3 page)

I nodded. I couldn’t help it. After being able to read my mind, Lailah understood my nonverbal communication better than most people did. “Yes, but we’ve been ordered to not say anything about it.”

She frowned. “Well, in that case, I won’t press you. But this does make my job harder. Will you tell me if there’s anything I need to know? Like if a demon is on the loose? I have souls to protect.” Her eyes met mine. “Including yours.”

Lailah was my soul guardian and she took her job very seriously. Unlike my last guardian, she wasn’t going to let a demon get my soul. Not on her watch. I didn’t know how to answer that, so I just nodded. If the shit hit the fan, we’d probably need all the help we could get, no matter what Chessandra had said. Not to mention Lailah was one of my most trusted friends.

“Okay. So you’re going to investigate the shadows now. Can you call me after you’re done?” she asked.

“Sure,” I said, despite the warning glare Kane was giving me. Ever since he’d become a demon hunter, he’d taken honoring his word to a whole new level. If he wasn’t supposed to talk about a mission, he wouldn’t. That was fine for him. But I wasn’t going to leave my friends in the dark if I thought they were in danger. I doubted he would either, but he’d rather not make promises he couldn’t keep. I, on the other hand, hadn’t exactly promised anything. I’d been given orders I didn’t agree with and hadn’t had a chance to compromise.

“Thanks.” She grabbed the lemonade bottle and gave us a short nod before heading back out the front door.

After we heard the door close with a soft click, Kane nodded toward the door. “She wasn’t just in the area, was she?”

“Maybe. But we both know that’s not why she stopped by.” She’d come in person because she knew she was being left in the dark and wanted to see my reaction. She had what she needed now.

He nodded. “I suppose we do. That’s what makes her good at her job.”

“And now it’s time for us to get to work.” I moved to stand in front of him and slipped my arms around his waist. “Ready to go see some strippers?”

He chuckled. “I’d rather watch you strip.”

I laughed. “I bet you would.”

Chapter 3

Kane and I stood outside Wicked, the strip club he owned, staring at the patrons waiting to get in. They were lined up down the block and around the corner.

“What the heck is going on in there?” I asked. “You’re not having an event night, are you?” Every now and then the club hosted theme parties, such as bachelorette night, or cowgirl night, or even dominatrix night, but the draw was never this good.

“No. Not that I’m aware of.” Kane tightened his hold on my hand and led me to the front door. A couple of drunken assholes protested until someone else recognized us and shouted for them to shut up. Kane ignored them all. He nodded to the bouncer as we slid past him into the packed club.

My body came alive with familiar lust as soon as we crossed the threshold. Kane’s fresh rain scent intensified, overwhelming me. He stopped half a step in front of me, his shoulder muscles rippling deliciously beneath his form-fitting cotton shirt. My pulse quickened as my body lit with electric desire. I moved forward and instinctively pressed my body up against Kane, needing to touch him. Raising my free arm, I trailed my hand down his neck and fixated on his lips as I ached to kiss him.

“Jade,” Kane said carefully. “What are you doing?” His tone held a note of confusion.

I glanced up into his searching eyes and then stepped back, shaking my head. I wasn’t in the habit of throwing myself at him in the middle of his club. “I…” Swallowing, I took another step back, trying to put distance between us. His incubus allure was in full effect. “You might want to rein the magic in.”

He frowned. “What are you talking about?”

I grabbed his hand and tugged him through the lust-filled crowd. The patrons—men and women alike—as well as the dancers and employees, paused to watch him. As we neared his office, he stopped and scanned the crowd. They collectively moved toward us.

“Inside,” I commanded and yanked him through the doorway. The door slammed closed with a satisfying click.

“Jade—” he started.

“Wait,” I said. “Do you not even know you’re doing it?”

“Doing what?”

I threw my hands up. “Stop being so dense. Your incubus allure is affecting not just me, but everyone in the club. The electricity in there is off the charts.”

He jerked back in surprise at my words. “I’m not putting anything out there.”

“But…” I tilted my head to the side and really studied him. He was tall and dark-haired with rich chocolate-brown eyes, a chiseled face, and a narrowed waist. Freakin’ gorgeous. Ever since Kane had been turned into an incubus, his already good looks had somehow turned him into something resembling a Greek god. There was no denying practically everyone who met him was awed by his mere presence.

“What do you see, love?” Kane asked.

“Just you. You’re right. No incubus energy in sight.” I sat on the edge of his desk and thought that through. His incubus energy had hit me full-force as soon as we’d walked through the door. The place was overcharged with his sexual energy. That made no sense whatsoever. Kane didn’t even spend that much time at the club these days. Charlie was the manager, and Kane came in during the day to help with the admin side of things.

“Wait here,” I said and moved toward the door.

“Where are you going?”

“Just out into the club. I’ll be right back.” Slipping through the door, I deliberately closed it behind me. The incubus allure tingled down my spine, making me sway with pent-up sexual energy. “Holy shit.”

Kane’s energy was filtering through the club, charging everyone with more than they bargained for. I steeled myself, trying to shake off the sensation. But since everything about Kane excited me, it wasn’t exactly working. A sheen of sweat coated my face as I heated from the inside out.

“Jade?” a familiar voice called over the music.

I spun, nearly running directly into Charlie. “Oh, hey. I was looking for you.”

Her lips twisted into a sexy half smile as she ran her hand down my bare arm. Ripples of pleasure coated my skin making me shiver. “Well, you’ve found me. What can I do for you, gorgeous?”

I stared at her, transfixed by the connection.

She chuckled.

Her laugh ripped me from the lust-state that made me stupid, and I shook my head, clearing my brain fog. “How long has it been like this?”

She glanced around the club. “Like what?”

“Uh, a line wrapped around the block and everyone so hopped up on pheromones the place feels more like a sex club than a strip club.”

“Oh, that.” She laughed. “It started last night. I thought you guys put a spell on the place or something. If so, it’s cool and all, but I had to call in extra help to keep the fiends watered.” Jabbing her head toward the bar, she pointed at two extra servers. “You’re saying it isn’t a spell?”

I shook my head. “At least not one either of us knew about.”

“Damn.” Charlie glanced around the club and then shivered. “That’s kind of creepy.”

“Yeah,” I agreed. “Well, there’s nothing to do about it now. Maybe we should ask Kane what he wants to do.”

She eyed the group of men crowding the stage. So far, they were keeping their distance from the dancer. “I’ll call in extra muscle just in case.”

“Good idea.” I nodded toward the office. “Kane and I can’t stay, but if anything goes down that you don’t like, give Pyper a call. She’ll know what to do.”

“You got it.” She leaned in for a quick hug, but stopped and held up her hands in a surrender motion. “Maybe not tonight.”

I chuckled. “Maybe not.”

The battle to fight Kane’s incubus energy was a real struggle. My senses became fuzzy and all I wanted to do was go back into that office and climb on top of him.
Get a grip, Jade.
I stood at the door, holding the handle for at least a full minute, trying to erect my glass silo in order to block out everything around me.

Finally, when the walls slid into place, I took a deep breath and retreated back into the office.

Kane was sitting at the desk, his head in his hands.

“Hey,” I said and placed my hand on his back. “You okay?”

He lifted his head, his brow knit in a pained expression. “Headache. It came on suddenly, as if my energy’s being leeched out of me.”

I dropped my barriers instantly and ran my fingers lightly over his forehead, leaving a whisper of my magic behind.

Kane let out a tiny moan of relief. As I was pulling my hand away, he caught it in his and kissed the tips of my fingers. “Thanks.”

I smiled down at him. “You’re welcome.”

He gazed up at me, his features smoothing out. “Did you find what you were looking for when you went out there?”

“Yes. The club is charged with your energy for some unknown reason. The people are lined up around the block because of your incubus pheromones. What we don’t know is why. Charlie said it’s been this way since last night. She thought we spelled the place to be sexually charged in order to boost business or something.”

His eyes went wide with surprise. “Damn.”

“Yeah.”

He stood up and stared at the closed door.

“There’s not really anything we can do about it right now,” I said. “Tomorrow, after everyone’s left, we’ll check into it. Maybe get the advice of the other incubi.”

“Maybe.” But the way he said it made it sound as if telling any of the Brotherhood was the last thing he wanted to do.

“We can worry about it tomorrow. For now, Charlie has it under control, and I told her to call Pyper if anything gets out of hand. She’ll be able to contact Bea or Lucien.” My solution for Charlie wasn’t the ideal plan, but it was better than nothing. Kane and I had a job to do.

He retreated from the door and walked to the middle of the office. “I’m ready when you are.”

I positioned myself beside him, slipped my hand into his, and held my breath when our world tilted. The soft glow of the office light winked out, replaced by pure darkness. Wind rushed in my ears, and then, still holding Kane’s hand, my feet slammed into the ground. I didn’t even stumble.

“We’re getting better at this,” I said to Kane as my eyes adjusted to the lack of light.

He didn’t respond and was so silent that had my fingers not been wrapped around his, I might have thought we’d been separated. Anger and hatred crawled over my skin, and my heart slammed against my ribs. “Who’s here?”

Kane shifted, tightening his hold on my hand. “Jade?” His voice was strained.

“What’s wrong? What’s going on?” I twisted, craning to look up at him, but the shadows were too dark. I couldn’t see anything except his outline.

“Everything feels… off,” he said so low I barely heard him.

“It is off. Someone or something is here.” I leaned in closer and whispered, “Whoever it is, is full of hatred.”

“Jade?” Kane said again.

“Kane?” Had he not heard me at all? Alarm took over, making my head spin. “What’s happening?”

He swayed next to me and before I could do anything to stop him, he lurched to the side and fell, landing hard on his shoulder.

“Kane!”I cried again and dropped to my knees, rolling him onto his back. Finally my vision had adjusted enough to make out his features. His eyes were closed and a trickle of what appeared to be blood ran from a small gash on his cheek. “No, no, no. Not now.”

It suddenly dawned on me that he was reacting the exact same way the angels had. Whatever the evil was that lingered here was draining all of his energy. If I didn’t get him out of here… I didn’t even want to contemplate the consequences. It was too awful.

Clutching his hand with both of mine, I closed my eyes and imagined the pair of us walking back into the club’s office. The thought should have been enough, but nothing happened. The world didn’t spin and when I opened my eyes, we were still in the desolate grayness that was the shadows.

Except this place was filled with hatred. Anger. Desperation. The air pulsed with it. And as I concentrated on the evil trying to worm its way into my consciousness, my limbs became heavy and the world started to fade. The problem was we weren’t headed back to the club. We weren’t headed anywhere.

My defensive walls shot up in a last-ditch effort to shield myself from whatever was stealing our energy. Instantly, my head cleared and the shadows came into focus. What was usually a mirror of our world, cast in shades of gray, was now a crumbling ruin. We were sprawled across a room that resembled Kane’s office, with peeling walls and rotting floors. The ceiling was caved in, and crumbled paper and garbage lay strewn across the floor.

An image of Kane and Lailah trapped in an old ruin came back to me. Purgatory? Is that where we were? Or a remote part of Hell? Kane and I had been there once. It hadn’t looked like this, but it had been full of destruction and despair.

We had to leave. One way or another, we were getting out of here. If I couldn’t walk Kane out, I’d just have to use my magic.

“Kane?” I said as I gripped his right arm. “Can you hear me?”

His eyelids fluttered, but he didn’t open them.

“I’m going to cast a spell tied to home. When I start to speak, just imagine our home and that we’re back there. I’ll do the rest.”

He didn’t make any indication that he’d heard me, and panic started to crawl through my veins.

I forced it down, focusing on the magic that pulsed just below my heart. It was fainter than it usually was, but I pushed away the doubts trying to claim my mind. I was a white witch, leader of the New Orleans coven. Nothing was going to keep me here in this hellish place.

Magic warmed my chest and spread, fortifying my weakened state. I gazed down at Kane, waiting for the magic to build. He was completely still, his chest barely rising.

A gasp caught in my throat and tears blurred my vision. “No, damn you. Don’t even think of leaving me.” Reaching down, I let the magic spark over his chest and pushed some of my own energy into him.

His body bowed as he sucked in a sharp breath. Groaning, his eyes flickered open.

“Kane?”