Chapter Twenty Two

“Something Scott said made me wonder, do we have to worry about condoms?”

The question came from nowhere and Dimitrius paused in reaching for one of the papers surrounding us at the table. We’d been working for hours, going through the printed interviews of the various parents in hopes of finding something we can use.

After months with no information, it didn’t hurt to try to find something this way. There had to be some kind of commonality between each case. As of yet, we hadn’t found it though and that left my mind with time to wander to odd topics.

As it did now.

Unfreezing, he hummed curiously. “No, incubi and succubi do not breed through the exchange of sperm and egg cells. I briefly mentioned this when I initially told you of what we are, but perhaps a more in-depth discussion is needed?”

I nodded and he continued.

“The tales sat the original incubus was a human rapist who, after his death, continued to torment women in their dreams, feeding on and impregnating them. While the truth of those legends is unknown, the point remains that incubi and succubi can only reproduce through a dream state. There are no accidental pregnancies for my people as we must use our power to uphold that dream state.”

Curiosity and the thirst for knowledge burned to the surface as I prodded. “Good to know we won’t need a rubber when the time comes, but if there are no accidental pregnancies then how did we get such a massive boom in children all of a sudden?”

His brow furrowed, confusion deepening the lines of his face, before I explained further.

“I mean, you said it yourself that this is more kids of your blood than you’ve seen in…ever. None of the parents we’ve interviewed were incubi or succubi either. This kind of thing can’t be passed down through the blood or skip generations, so someone must have purposefully impregnated the women.”

Scratching my head, I shrugged. “If there’s no emotional reason, then why are there suddenly so many incubi and succubi kids with no ‘demon’ parent there for them?”

Nothing about this made sense.

Then, Dimitrius’s face shifted into a mask of disbelief, unease pouring off him in waves as he muttered. “No…it is not possible.”

Okay, now you see, that really wasn’t comforting. Hardly anything shook Dimitrius. So what could he possibly be thinking of that would merit the dawning fear in his eyes?

Settling a hand over his, I prodded as nerves bubbled in my gut. “Dimitrius, what are you thinking?”

He shook his head as if pulling himself back to the present. “It is told that there was a war many years ago. An incubus, supposedly the original, spawned hundreds of children. Once they reached maturity he took them, trained them to be weapons in his army.”

Honey eyes drifted to the papers in front of him as color dropped from his cheeks. “Only the interference of humans, magically enhanced beings, and others of my blood who disagreed with his quest for world domination stopped his plans.”

A hint of green encroached on his features. “Afterward, my people were slaughtered. The fear of what we could do becoming known, fear spreading like wildfire until there were so few of us left it was assumed we were extinct. We allowed others to think that for our safety.”

Staring at him in dumbstruck disbelief, ice slid down my spine like a snake as I took it in. An ancient incubus with a god complex from hell, raising an army to take over the world. This was the stuff of fairy tales!

Which, if something similar was happening here, meant we were the ragtag group of idiots bent on saving anyone. I really didn’t like the sound of that. Heroes always got screwed in the end and I wasn’t keen on being one of them. Not with my track record with being bent over by fate.

Sitting back, I glared at the papers and groaned. “By the seven hells, I did not sign up for saving the world.”

Dimitrius finally broke from his frozen stupor, throwing me an amused glance with a heavy edge of worry. “We might not have a choice if that is what is happening. I pray that we are overreaching, because if that is indeed what we will be facing…”

He swept a glance around at the papers. “We will need every bit of help we can get.”

Unfortunately, help wasn’t exactly lining up to our door. Being the ‘Useless Mage’ would ensure the council never listened to a word I said. Even if we had proof, those old blowhards would see the world burn before they helped me.

I was the outcast, always had been, and bringing this to them would do nothing but sign Dimitrius’s death warrant.

The flash of hot, sharp fear soaked blood thirst lashed me then.

I’d kill every last one of them before I allowed that to happen. Dimitrius wouldn’t be harmed, by the council or anyone else.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

Resisting the urge to spit a string of profanity, I bit back a sigh. This was why I didn’t get involved with things, and I couldn’t walk away now either.

Resigning myself to being the hero, a role I never wanted, I tried to be positive for both our sakes. “Maybe we’re wrong. For all we know incubi may have wanted to repopulate your species or something. We can’t jump to these conclusions until we have solid evidence and to get that we need to talk to the mothers.”

Gripping the logical train of thought with both hands, I continued down it. “If they can give us a description of the one who impregnated them, we at least have a place to start. To my knowledge, there are no tracking potions that work off photos or drawings of a person, but I’ll ask around. For now, we have to focus on what we can do.”

The ill expression left his face as he nodded, determination settling like a veil as he gathered the papers close to him again. “You are right. I shall make a list of the women we can contact. With any luck, your guess that my brethren are trying to increase our population. It would still be a heinous thing to do, but it is leaps and bounds better than the alternate option.”

Yeah, stopping an incubus trying to take over the world was definitely not how I wanted to spend my Tuesday, especially if it ended in another species wide slaughter.

Instinctively, my hand drifted to his, squeezing to reassure myself that he was safely beside me.

It didn’t matter, if it did turn into a bloodbath I’d just have to ensure Dimitrius’s identity stayed hidden from the magic council and the humans.

I’d raze the battlefield and anyone who tried to aim a weapon at him if it came down to it. He wouldn’t be taken from me, not while I breathed.

There were a select few plants that could neutralize all magic in the area around them. Most of the magical world treated them like weeds, ripping them apart the second they found them, so getting my hands on some seeds shouldn’t be too hard…

***

I tightened the notches on my belt, the fancy leather holsters tucked neatly out of sight against my stomach as I ignored the rub of leather on skin.

It’d taken us the better part of a week to sift through all the women, but now we had a potential lead on top of a base to hit.

Thankfully the base was on the way to the mother we’d be questioning, making it easier on us.

The mother were visiting–Isabelle Collins–was different from the others. While the other parents had only been visited once in their dreams, she had been visited continually over the course of years.

And she was pregnant again from the same man she’d seen in her dreams.

For the incubi to focus on her in a way he hadn’t to any of the others spelled nothing good.

Why would he bother continuing to torture her? Some kind of grudge match maybe… Or maybe he’d fixated on her after bumping into her. It was astounding what could cause stalkers to latch onto people.

Forcing away the questions with no answers, I sighed. Whatever the reason, hopefully we’d manage to spare her from it. She’d survived through years of mental torture, pushing through her son while dealing with it.

She’d suffered enough, peace was more than owed to her. Now if I could just figure out how to give her that.

Checking one last time that my weapons were placed correctly, I faced Dimitrius who stood at the doorway with an intent look leveled my way.

“I have said it before, but it bears repeating, you look ravishing in that suit.”

Considering the leather hugged my everything, it wasn’t surprising he liked it. I definitely enjoyed the matching one he wore. Shelving my previous line of thought, I grinned impishly and raked a long look up his frame.

The tight leather all but painted onto his thighs and chest, giving me quite the show as trailed my gaze from his shoes all the way up his frame. Sauntering over with a deliberate sway, I curled my fingers into one of the straps on his chest and tugged with a purr.

“Oh trust me darling, you look just as appetizing, but focus. We have things to finish and at the moment we aren’t on each other’s to-do lists. Later, after we’ve talked to the mother and sent the kids home, then we can explore more.”

He nodded, though his eyes stayed glued to my chest, one of his hands lifting to trace down my side. Once it rested on the well of my bottom, he dragged me against his front. Dropping his mouth to my ear, he growled. “Indeed, suddenly later seems quite far but you are right. There is much to do and little time to do it in, but Julian?”

My name rolled of his tongue, sending shivers down my spine as he brushed his cheek to scrape sensually against my throat.

“When we get back, neither of us will be leaving this room until I all but glow from the energy I pull from your arousal.”

Heat threatened to stuff my head, before I nodded to shake it aside. “Can’t wait.” Before he could say anything else to make me say ‘fuck it’ to our plans and drag him back to the bed, I ran for the door.

“Come on, the quicker we get this finished, the quicker ‘later’ comes.”

His chuckle rang from behind me, the throaty noise rubbing too pleasantly as he followed. “Right behind you my darling.”

We hardly made it three feet from the front door before a quiet voice stopped us.

“Are you saving more kids like me?”

I spun, facing Avery. The boy’s wounds had healed well, scarring over into thin web like strikes across his face. Wide gold eyes stared up at me as he moved down the staircase, fisting a hand in my pants when he made it to my side.

I shot a glance Dimitrius’s direction before nodding, kneeling to be at his level.

“Yeah, that’s the plan. Think you can get everything ready here for when we get back? I’m sure they’re going to be scared like you were.”

And in need of showers, clothes and a friend.

The boy lit up, a wide smile stretching his lips as he glowed. “I can do that.” Then the smile fell, his toes nudging the ground as he tugged my pants and muttered. “Will you two be okay? Those men holding us were scary.”

And there went my heart again, melting into my shoes.

Ruffling his hair gently, I nodded. “Yup, we’ll be just fine. We probably won’t be coming back with the kids though, not at first. We have something else to do. So don’t worry, alright?”

His lower lip wobbled a bit before he blinked the tears away. In a flash, arms wound around my shoulders in a hug, holding on for the briefest second before he darted away. “Be safe, come home soon!” He threw the words over his shoulder, cheeks scorching red as I stood up with a shake of my head.

Dimitrius breezed to my side, lips quirking slightly as he led us to the car. “He adores you.”

I shrugged, ignoring the warmth to my cheeks. “He’s cute, I’ll give him that. Bad choice in role model though. He should admire you.”

Dimitrius shook his head, kissing the top of mine with a chuckle. “You have many admirable traits, Julian. When we return, I will be sure to list them. For now though, let us get to the first base. The drive is two hours long and we must hurry, lest they become aware of our plan.”

I bobbed my head in agreement, settling into the car as unease slid through my veins again. No amount of brushing it aside worked, like a balloon it floated to the surface again, fisting a hand around my gut.

Sneaking a glance outside the car window, I took a deep breath and sent up a prayer.

Please, watch over us.