Chapter Thirty Two

I reclined back on the couch, Dimitrius’s hand combing through my hair as I dozed in and out.

Isabelle and Vlad were taking the opportunity to rest before everything got crazy again and I was never one to miss an opportunity for some quality cuddle time with Dimitrius. All I’d had to do was lie down and look at him, then he was at my side, tugging my head into his lap.

Part of me wanted to drag him to the bedroom while we had the minute, but I forced the urge down. Now wasn’t the time for that, we needed to rest while the opportunity was here. I doubted we’d have time for this once the hunt really started and I’d revel in it just in case.

Not to mention we could always die in the coming fight, though I was doing my best to not think like that. Redirecting my thoughts before they could trip down the dark rabbit hole, I melted into him and sighed.

“I wish we could do this more often.”

Our relationship had been hectic from the start, barely giving us time to be together in between base hits and now this. Dimitrius nodded, not pausing in his stroking.

“Soon we shall have all the time in the world for this. While things have been busy, I will relish in the days when we may slow down and enjoy one another’s company more thoroughly throughout each day.”

I almost turned the conversation in a decidedly more naughty direction, but I shook it off with practiced ease. I was too comfortable here and besides, the quiet intimacy was nice. Breaking it wasn’t what I wanted and I doubted Dimitrius did either.

Cuddling closer, I hummed. “Don’t tell me that, you’ll have a hell of a time making me move.”

His chuckle was low, stroking along my nerve endings in an all too pleasant way. His hand shifted, guiding my chin up to look at him. “When our time is our own then you may lie in my lap as often as you please. I certainly have no complaints.”

Before I could contemplate the idea of wrapping myself around him and refusing to move, a tentative voice from the doorway stopped me.

“Should I come back later?”

Isabelle hovered near the entrance, eyeing us with open uncertainty and a longing I more than understood. Sitting up with a grunt despite my muscles screaming in protest, I shook my head. “Nope, we can go back to that in a bit. What’s up?”

She bit her lip, pulling something from behind her with a shrug before offering it. “I couldn’t make my mind slow down enough to sleep, so I drew a sketch of the man you’re after. Some details are off, but this is the basic description.”

All previous drowsy affection left me as I took the pad of paper excitedly, only to freeze at the face staring back at me. Impossible…

Shifting up to sit next to Dimitrius, I held the pad next to his head and gawked. The man in the sketch was nearly a mirror image of him, though Dimitrius’s jaw was a touch softer and his eyes weren’t the same shape.

Isabelle nodded. “I know, the similarities unsettled me at first before I realized he wasn’t him. But this is good, right? If they’re related somehow then maybe we can track him easier?”

Shaking off the world rattling shock that the sick fuck behind this mess might be related to Dimitrius, I handed back the paper and focused on her. “In a way, it is. Though it doesn’t spell out anything good for us. Supposedly there was an incubi uprising in history, one incubus in particular trying to take over the world cliché super villain style. Now we have a rise in incubi and succubi kids and all the offspring look similar?”

I shook my head, hating the conclusion I was drawing. “We were hoping this was a group trying to revive their species, but no. This is looking more and more like an army in the making and if all the kids were born from the same incubi?”

I glanced back to Dimitrius who looked vaguely ill, coming to the same conclusion I did. “We’re dealing with someone old and powerful.”

But just how old could he be? Was this the incubus who’d tried this uprising bullshit the first time or was this just someone who saw the idea and thought ‘Hey, that looks like a fun Tuesday activity, let’s do it!’?

God I hoped it wasn’t the same one. To survive this long, impregnating dozens of women in the time of a year, told me more about his power level than anything else and I did not like where this was heading.

Dimitrius grimaced, his arm tightening around my waist as he spoke. “This bodes ill. My mother only ever birthed me before her death. For him to bear such a striking resemblance…”

Stroking his hand, I finished the thought. “Means he’s either your father or your brother and neither of those options are good ones.”

He shook his head, swallowing hard. “No, they are not.”

Dead silence rang out, before Isabelle shifted from foot to foot. “Would me telling you more about him help anything?”

Sharing a long glance with Dimitrius, sighed. “Honestly, we have no idea. We’re pretty sure he’s spearheading this mess, no partners, and if that’s the case then we need to find and put him down before he has a chance to train that army. With any luck he won’t have had time to raise any of the kids so we’ll only be dealing with one psychotic, potentially millennium old incubus.”

Isabelle tilted her head, digging for anything that could be useful. “He didn’t usually try to touch me in my dreams, just the two times I got pregnant. He liked to taunt though, he got off on my fear and knowing he put me through hell. He mentioned once that I was different, that of all the women he’d raped I was his favorite.” She grimaced, disgust and pain clear.

“As if that’s something to be proud of. He didn’t say why he favored me though, just that I’d be his pet after he got his way, because I would be different. Stronger.”

She shivered at the thought and I cut her off before she could delve further. “You don’t have to say anything else. Your sketch is a wonderful help and now we have more to go off of. He’s related to Dimitrius and he’s working alone. That tells us we’re not sniffing out a group and Vladimir said he can track him through one of the children since they’re a direct line of descent.”

I offered a tired smile. “You’ve done your part, now let us do ours.”

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

She nodded, hesitating before adding on. “While everything is still overwhelming, I wanted to thank you. I’ve wanted to see that monster dead for years…”

No kidding. Waving off her thanks, I responded. “It’s not something to thank me for. Now get some sleep, we’ll let Vladimir rest a bit more and then-.”

The door to the room slammed open, one of the staff stumbling with eyes wide with fear. “Sir, the children you saved-!”

Already moving to stand, I ground my teeth. That prick had better not hurt those kids again! They’d been through enough already and when I got a hold of him I’d feed that motherfucker his teeth for everything he’d caused.

Dimitrius stood as well, alarm and outrage chiseled into his face. “Were they kidnapped again?”

The staff member shook his head, face pale as death with a tint of green. “No sir, at least then we’d be able to save them.”

Silence. No one dared to even breathe as the truth hit with the force of a truck, my previous rage roaring high into an inferno as I choked on the clawing heat trying to choke me. Grief followed next, and I spoke through my daze.

“Did any of them survive?”

The man grimaced, “Some, but not many. We found evidence of magical interference at several of the homes so we think-.”

Dimitrius cut him off with a feral growl. “That the one behind it all is killing them off, hiring mages to do his dirty work.”

Isabelle gasped, a hand dropping to her stomach as the flinty wrath from the clearing came back. “But I thought he needed the children!?”

To that, I shook my head. “He does, which means he doesn’t like how close we’re getting to him now. He’s cutting his losses while he still can. By eliminating the kids from the picture he can stay in hiding, try to plan this again in a few centuries.”

I would have admired the cold, logic behind it under other circumstances, as it stood I could only be disgusted. “He’s smart, patient and above all ruthless. He knows what he’s doing.”

Injustice and the urge to rip him limb from limb washed through me until red dotted my vision. Those children had been through hell already and now they’d died by the man who’d caused ti to begin with. Hell was too good for that monster, but I had nothing worse to offer him, so Hell it would be.

Power flooded the room, Isabelle stiffening from the corner of my eyes as Dimitrius’s anger flared out, coating the room in a prickly and pulsing blanket. “He will pay for this, make no mistake.”

Minutes ticked by as we all came to terms with the new development, silence enveloping the room before Isabelle broke it to whisper. “But how do we find him now? You said we needed the kids to reverse track him.”

A small voice from the door came then, one that ripped my heart from my chest.

“I’ll do it.”

All heads swung to face Avery, his eyes wide with fear even as a shaky determination covered them. His grip on the wall eased as he came into the room, tipping his head up in an imitation of Dimitrius I’d seen more than a few times since he’d come to stay with us.

Stopping in front of Dimitrius and I, looked up and repeated it. “I’ll do it. He hurt the others again, will hurt me too. I can’t let him-.” He choked, tears clogging his throat as my heart twisted painfully.

Kneeling to his level, I shook my head, gently swiping his tears. “No, I won’t let you. This won’t be something you have to shoulder.”

Avery went to argue, wet cheeks only adding to the painful picture, but Dimitrius brushed a hand through his hair, cutting him off with a smile.

“She is right, besides you do not need to do this.”

He looked over to me, jaw hardening as he continued. “Because I will. I have a direct line to this incubus as well and I am an adult.” Then he glanced back to Avery, eyes softening. “You are but a child. This is not a role for you.”

Avery shuddered, relief washing over him as he melted against Dimitrius, cuddling under his arm. The sight tugged my heartstrings and I nodded in agreement. “He’s right, he’s also used to fighting and you’re not. Thanks for trying kid, but this isn’t your fight.”

Vlad breezed through the doors then, eyes still crusty from sleep as his long black coat swished soundlessly behind him. “We have no time to lose then. Your staff woke me with an update on the situation. We must strike now. Every minute wasted is one more will suffer.”

I would have argued under other circumstances, Vlad still looked like death warmed over, but I couldn’t. What other option did we have?

Determination cemented Dimitrius’s face as he nodded. “Then we shall do this now. He has wreaked havoc for too long. Tonight, we will locate him and put an end to this.”

Equal parts anticipation and nerves surged at that. I wanted this over, but we were all tired, fighting while exhausted was never a good idea…

But again, there was no better option, so I nodded. “Before we get into that…” I squeezed Avery’s shoulder. “Bud, can you please go back to your room for now? The adults have to talk.”

He pouted, but after a final hug around Dimitrius and my waists, he nodded. Once he was gone, I nodded to Vlad and stood up. “Alright, let’s get this show on the road.”

The bronze skinned man breezed out of the room, Dimitrius following as they discussed the spell that would send his mind to our enemy. I went to follow, only for Isabelle to catch my arm. “I want to be there to see him die.”

Shit, I really didn’t have the time or energy for this. Running a hand down my jaw, I tried to find the words to explain just how bad of an idea that was, only for Vlad to walk back into the room and do it for me.

“While I understand why you say that–believe me, I do–you’ll be doing no such thing. As you are, you’re an easy target and we’re more likely to get killed trying to defend you than anything. I gave you my word that he will die and I’ll carry that promise through even if it kills me. But you need to let us do this.”

Isabelle frowned, a battle waging across her face, before she sighed in defeat. “Fine, but only because I don’t want to be the reason you die. Just…be careful, alright?”

Vlad paused at the genuine concern in her tone, only to stiffen to stone when she moved forward, snaking arms around him in a hug. He stared blankly down at her, taking in the sudden action with a stupefied wonder, before I gestured wildly to get his attention.

Once I had it, I moved my arms to pantomime ‘hug her back, you fool!’. He did, after a minute. Seconds ticked by before Isabelle pulled away, looking to the side as she cleared her throat.

“Sorry, even after everything, I’m still a touchy person.”

Vlad smiled, the twitch of the lips hesitant but genuine. “That’s fine, I quite enjoy touch myself, so you’ll find no complaints from me.” Tension sparked through the air between them, making me raise a brow, before shaking it to the side.

Not my business.

Instead, I turned on heel and followed the direction Dimitrius had originally gone. He was my business and we should probably talk about what was to come. Thankfully there were only a few rooms in this direction and when I opened the door to his room, I found him.

He sat on the edge of the bed, offering me a tense smile when I entered. “So it finally comes to a close. Tonight we will have his location and then we can finally be done with this.”

Grief tinged his voice and I instinctively sat beside him, taking his hand and squeezing. “There’s nothing you could have done to stop any of this from happening. Don’t blame yourself.”

His lips curled harshly as he pulled me tighter into his side. “That is easier said than done, but we can worry about my guilt later. For now, we have a location to find and a war to wage.”

I reluctantly let the topic go, though not without kissing his head. “I will be coming back to this, but you’re right. We have things to deal with, but after that I swear we’re both going to therapy. I know my issues alone would be enough to have three therapists cry, puke and quit, in that order.”

His eyes lightninged with a tad of amusement, before Vlad entered, cutting off any discussion. His face settled into a mask of grimness as he stopped in front of us.

“Julian can stay if you want her to, but no one else. I’ll need to focus to send you through the spell.”

Dimitrius nodded, glancing to me with an open question that I answered without hesitation. “Try to remove me from your side, see what happens.”

His lips twitched up and he faced Vlad with a nod.

With that, the air grew heavy with tension and we started. Dimitrius settled with his head in my lap, my fingers automatically twining with his hair as Vlad settled on his other side. A joke about all three of us being in bed together was on the tip of my tongue, but I swallowed it.

Not the time.

Honey eyes slid shut as Vladimir cast the spell, his magic saturating the air for the second time as he wove the spell over Dimitrius. I knew instantly when it took effect, his muscles going slack as his mind followed the magic guiding him to our enemy.

Sending up a prayer for his safety, I took a deep breath and centered my ricocheting nerves. The hair on my neck tingled, itching relentlessly as the crawling feeling that somehow, someway this was going to backfire rose up to clutch my throat.

Dear Lord, let this work…