Page 38 of The Incubus Curse

I was on the verge of reaching for her arm, prepared to lead her back to the room, ready to succumb to my desires, when the front doors of the club swung open wide. The few vampires near the entrance hissed, backing into the shadow of the club as their skin sizzled in the feint sunset that shone through.

A single silhouette stood in the doorway, with what I knew was a severed head dangling from its hand. From where I sat, I could see the blood dripping down as the figure walked in slowly. His boots clacked as the spurs spun on the backs.

The music ceased at that moment as everyone looked at the man who came into view. His eyes were black and he waspeering into the crowd as if looking for one specific person making me uneasy. However, it wasn’t until I heard a sheer cry from Sasha crack the silence that I realized whose head it was.

I felt everything in me die in that moment.

My father’s blue eyes stared back at me in realization that it was his head dangling so eloquently in this man’s hand. His blond bloody hair spiraled as the man twirled his new trophy.

Chapter 13

Dustin

“Where are the Ellisario’s?” The man spoke, and I watched as everyone’s eyes looked toward us. It felt like they all cleared the way for the stranger. Or rather, adeadstranger after what I had planned for him.

“Ahh, all in one place it looks like. And the girl?” His brow rose as he took in Freya as if he knew her. “There she is.” A cruel smile wiped his face.

At that moment, all I could do was envision all the ways that I intended to kill this man. I would delight in it, letting my powers push every evil thing I could think into his mind until he went mad. It would be slow and painful, and my face would haunt him even in the afterlife.

This wasvengeance. This was blood for blood.

Sasha rushed towards us, tears streaming down her face. It marked the first occasion I witnessed her shedding tears, and ironically, it was also the first time that she wasn’t a thorn in my side, sad as it may be. I reached out, letting my arms pull her into me so she could cry into my shoulder. I felt the swells of her eyes as she poured into me. Sadly, this moment was the closest that we had ever been.

“You know.” The man started walking closer, and everyone stared, unsure what to do—frozen almost.

And all I could think about was that father wouldn’t have gone down easily. He would have fought tooth and nail. He was very resilient and terrifying to watch in a fight. I had only been blessed with witnessing it a few times, and no one walked away from him with all their limbs. For this man to have killed him so cruelly, for him to taunt the rest of us so foolishly, it meant that he was stronger than he appeared.

“Your father was easy to kill, you know.” He teased, twirling the head again like it was some toy. Blood spat out of an artery along the edges of where it got severed, staining the very floor my father had built.

“He even cried before I cut off his head, like a child wailing for mercy. As for your mother, well, I have other uses for her. I assure you she’s very much alive. For now, anyway.” This devilish grin smeared across his face.

With how close he stood to us, I could see him clearly. Freckles lined his hallow cheeks. The black circles under his eyes were large and deep, as if he hadn’t slept in weeks. His clothes looked as if he had been wearing them for centuries, torn and mangled as dirt clung to him. His greasy hair spilled over his forehead, and I knew I would remember his face vividly until the day I died.

He was no different than… My mouth dropped when the pieces connected.

“You’re a deathwalker,” I said, watching as he seemed surprised that I had put it together so quickly. Or perhaps he had expected me to know sooner. He was hard to read, unlike most.

“Something of the sort. Though, I did send that otherdeathwalker for the girl. When you want something done right, you must do it yourself.” His smile was now wide and terrifying, curling up his face like he had cut it open. Pieces of flesh dangled over his open gums. The skin on his face began to crumble off, revealing bone as his eyes sunk deeper into his face. His teeth eerily stretched along his jawline as he grinned. It was like something out of a horror film, rotting before our eyes.

I felt Freya grab my hand, letting her fingers entwine in my own as she shook violently with fear. I could feel it coming off her.

I looked down and watched Freya beg for us to leave. Her eyes practically were screaming at me, as hazy as they were.

“We should run.” Tina’s voice was in my ear. “We don’t know what he’s capable of yet. He’s baiting you. Don’t be stupid.”

Oliver finally spoke, his voice cracking slightly as he cleared his throat. “She’s right, brother. He killed father. He’s got to be stronger than he looks. We can’t take him, not like this. Not this emotional. Father wouldn’t want this.”

Before I could speak, Sasha pulled herself from my shoulder and cowered behind me, whispering, “Kill him!” repeatedly in my ear as if I needed any encouragement at this moment.

I took a stance, trying to find the eyes of the deathwalker, but I couldn’t. They were so far sunken into his head that I couldn’t grasp a glance. It was as if he knew how to protect himself from a succubus. As if he knew what I was going to do even before I did.

“Stop him! Say something to him!” Sasha cried, realizing I hadn’t used my charms yet. But I couldn’t find his eyes to capture him. It was useless.

The deathwalker’s face grinned at the realization. “You’ll have to touch me if you want that to work. I can’t promise it’ll have quite the same effect you’re used to. After all, I am far older than you, boy.”

Boy?

My fists folded into balls, nails cutting into my palms from how hard I was clenching them. My heart angrily pounded as I leaped forward, reaching for his skin. All I needed was a touch of his hand or neck, and he would bemine.

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