Page 46 of The Incubus Curse

“The only thing I can think of is the comment he made. It could have been nothing, but he mentioned the dilution of our kind. The half-breeds. He didn’t kill Mother, and he didn’t kill me, oddly enough. It could have been coincidental, but I just have a feeling it wasn’t. He seemed to enjoy killing.”

Ancients? Angels? Pain pounded against my skull as I tried to keep track of everything without showing any reaction.

Dustin’s hand gently rubbed my back, and while it was just a simple touch, it felt… caring. Maybe he didn’t mean what he said after all? Perhaps he was trying to protect me?

I stiffened initially, shocked by the sudden touch. And in a panic to not be found out, I rolled over. My eyes were pressed firmly shut as I softly groaned as if tossing and turning, letting my head dig into his armpit.

“Is she awake?” Tina’s voice sank as if she thought being quieter would keep me from waking.

“No, I don’t think so.” His voice hummed loudly againstmy ear, which pressed firmly into his shirt. That same smell of sandalwood seeped into my nose, reminding me of his lips, even though the two weren’t correlated by any means. I was beginning to think that I did this subconsciously. Like I wanted to be close to him now that I knew there was a possibility that he didn’t hate me after all.

“Should we be on the lookout for the other ancients? I’d imagine there are more of them, given the deathwalker said “ancients,” plural. Perhaps there’s an original vampire and succubus to look out for.” Oliver continued the conversation once they assumed me to be asleep.

Dustin must have felt my shift and assumed I was having a bad dream. His hand ran circles on my back, easing me. And it was terrifying to know it worked. How was I supposed to not fall for this stupid, arrogant prick that did all the things I longed for?

After all, he couldn’t have been any more damaged than I was, and I couldn’t get over this feeling that swam in my stomach at the thought of him.

“I hadn’t thought about that.” Dustin sighed, his fingers running through my hair. “And frankly, I don’t know that we could handle that kind of power. We barely handled theoneancient. If that’s even what he was. I could be wrong.”

“Doubtful. You said that thing at Thomas Marketing mentioned them coming. It can’t be a coincidence.”

My mind drifted as their conversation seemed to fizzle out.

Could there be a more powerful Succubus? More powerful than Dustin and his family? I couldn’t even begin to imagine what that might look like. Let alone whatever an original vampire might be.

The thought of being an angel made my mind twist. Howdoes one even become an angel? Aside from being able to repel their abilities, what else could I do?

Dustin continued playing with my hair, and with each stroke of his fingers, I felt my eyes growing heavy again. It was so relaxing that I didn’t even realize how fast I had fallen back asleep. It wasn’t until the sun crept through the gaps in the trees that I realized it was suddenly morning.

My head had still been on his chest, to my surprise.

I leaned upright and stopped as my eyes met Dustin’s. He was smiling for the first time since we left the strip club. Time had melded together, making me question how long it had been. Technically, it had only been two days ago, but it felt longer.

“Good morning, Freya Darling.” His voice was so low he almost sounded like he had just woken up.

“Morning.” I shyly stuttered, unsure why I was suddenly so nervous. “Where are we now?” I leaned on the window, watching as the building around us caved into the street tightly. Bright colors lit up the roads, and each building seemed to have a balcony embedded with beads and feathers. I didn’t need to know Dustin’s response to know that we were officially in New Orleans.

“Should we be at all worried about you guys being in public, what with you being public figures?” Tina asked, oblivious to the fact that I had awoken. Her eyes were glued on the road, avoiding pedestrians who walked carelessly in front of cars as if they owned the streets.

“Nah, our publicist is pretty good at navigating any bumps we run into. Plus, we have an excellent legal team. Regardless of whether it’s true, anything said about us is usually hushed relatively quickly. I doubt we’re even linked to anything thathappened back in New York.” Oliver seemed to say as he watched the traffic intently with Tina as if to help her watch out for strays.

Dustin slid his head toward mine, almost in a silent nudge. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have-“He started and then cut himself off. “Are you okay?” His voice was so quiet and yet raspy that it tickled something inside me.

My smile looked forced, but only because I was trying not to act like I wasn’t through the moon. He was apologizing when he didn’t need to. Everything he said was true. I knew he was trying to save me from myself and him. “I think so.” That was all I said as the conversation stopped briefly.

“Areyou?” My brows lifted even though I tried not to give him a pitiful look. The same look I got when my parents died.

I knew what that look felt like. To see it on everyone’s face as they told you how sorry they were for your loss as if it helped. As if it could fill that empty void that was still an open wound.

His mouth dropped open, but he hesitated on the words. Oddly enough, his right hand lifted, his two fingers tucking a loose hair from my cheek behind my ear as he just examined me.

It made my mouth dry, aching for him.

“I’ll survive.” He finally said, his eyes detouring from my own to my lips. And I watched as those eyes of his paled, flashing brightly, and then he pulled himself from me as if he was scared to touch me. Or maybe he didn’t care enough to want to.

That little voice in my head that constantly put me down just had to remind me that I was nothing to him. And I hated letting that voice make me so insecure becauseI knew I was reading into too much.

I was so busy with my thoughts that I didn’t realize we had stopped. We had parked in some alleyway that frankly looked almost as terrifying as the hotel of hot people did when we pulled up. Though if my experience these past few days had proved anything, it was that nothing was as it appeared.

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