Page 46 of Accidentally Summoned an Incubus

Lochran’s shadows uncoiled, spooling around Chad and lifting him into the air. Screaming filled the room as the shadows folded in on themselves, Chad’s shrieks of pain accompanied by the deafening sound of bones breaking.

A tendril of shadows wrapped around Chad’s neck, squeezing hard enough to make his eyes bulge out of their hollows. Lochran’s bodkin-like tail slashed across Chad’s abdomen, his innards spilling to the floor with a sickening squelch. Chad’s broken fingers tried pitifully to grasp at his trailing organs, but to no avail. My mate took a step forward, his shadows loosening around Chad’s neck enough to tilt his head, forcing him to look Lochran in the eyes.

“Please,” Chad managed to choke out, the words almost indistinguishable over his swollen tongue and blood foaming from his mouth. “I d-don’t want to die.”

Lochran’s laugh was a low, lethal rumble that filled the room. “You were always going to die for what you did to my mate.” In one swift movement, Lochran brought his obsidian talons across Chad’s neck. My mate immediately turned his back to Chad, his eyes focused on me, ignoring the death gurgles of my tormentor. He took my hand gently in his, Chad’s blood still warm as he placed my hand over the almost healed wound on his chest. “I’m sorry, my heart.”

My head tilted, unsure of what he meant.

“I know that you wanted justice for the other women that he hurt. In seeking justice for you, they will never know that they don’t need to fear Chad Brunswick anymore.”

I barely registered Chad’s final, gurgling breath as I stood on my tiptoes and pressed my forehead against Lochran’s. “He needed to die. It would have taken months, maybe even years, to get him behind bars, if at all. Besides, we still have the journal and Billy’s notes.”

As if by magic, the pinkfolder appeared on the countertop beside me.

“If I may,” Grandma’s voice filled the room, reminding me that my family was still spectating from the doorway. My journal was clutched in her hands as she crossed the room and picked up the pink folder. Her eyes widened as she briefly read the graffiti. Grandma, with some disdain, removed the contents of the folder and set them on a neat pile on the countertop before adding my journal to the pile. “I took the liberty of removing any mention of witches and hexes from your notes, Alexis. As head of the coven, I cannot condone murder.” She glanced at Lochran before her gaze returned to me. “And I certainly cannot condone the disposal of the body in a public place where it may be found surrounded by evidence of his crimes.” She tapped a finger on my journal. “However, as head of this coven, I can tell you that the magic of the house will deposittrashwherever you want it. Be that a landfill, the bottom of an ocean, or a clinical gray office in Sacramento.”

“I think the latter would be most appropriate,” Lochran said. A split second later, all traces of Chad and his crimes had disappeared from the house.

The final threads of tension snapped inside me. The knowledge that Chad could no longer hurt anyone and that, while he might not face a mortal punishment, the world would know what he’d done, made me feel lighter than air.

My reprieve was only short-lived, however, as a second later, a bloodcurdling howl pierced the quietness. The back door opened of its own accord with enough force to punch a hole in the drywall. A gigantic silver wolf leapt through the doorway, her lethal claws scraping against the stone floor like nails downa chalkboard. Billy’s eyes glowed like hellfire, her lips pulled back, exposing canines longer than my hand. Her growl reverberated through the room, low enough that all the plates, cups, and glasses quivered.

I’d never seen Billy fully shifted, but there could be no doubt that she was an alpha. She had to be at least three times the size of the biggest wolf shifter I’d seen to date and radiated so much power that all the incubi and witches present, including myself, had enough sense not to call our magic and startle her.

Except Jake, who wore a goofy smile and reached out his hand as if to pet her.

I quickly slapped his hand away.

“Billy,” I said, my voice careful and soothing. “It’s okay.”

I sucked in a breath of surprise as my best friend’s voice echoed in my mind.

Where is he? I’ll kill him.

If I was unsure before, then this solidified it. I was now part of Billy’s new pack. And by the way Lochran was rubbing his ear in confusion, he apparently was too.

“He’s already dead,” Jake said, and I snapped my head toward him.

No.

Nuh-uh.

No fucking way.

Mybrotherwas part of Billy’s pack?

I turned to Lochran, mouth opened in an is-he-for-fucking-real look, only to be met with Lochran mouthing “I’ll explain later.”

Billy’s eyes werelocked on Jake, who took another step toward her, his hand outstretched. This time, my slap on his wrist was a little harder than I meant it to be. Jake glared at me, nursing his wrist against his chest before turning his attention back on Billy.

Finally, her hackles lowered, her lips relaxed, and her eyes stopped glowing. She let out a huff and, in one fluid movement, raised her front paws, transforming back into her much smaller human form.

Nakedhuman form.

Jake turned bright red. His entire torso was flushed as he removed his T-shirt and handed it to Billy, who was blushing just as profusely as she pulled the T-shirt over her head.

I glanced at Lochran, my eyes narrowing as he offered me a what-can-I-say shrug.

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