Incubus Awakened by Kitty Thomas

26

Pre-recorded Gregorian chanting infused the sanctuary as Anna waited for Father Jeffries to arrive. Her hand hadn’t stopped itching since she’d made her decision.

She was startled to see Caroline Johnson light a candle then sit in the first pew. Anna lit one out of habit and sat beside her.

“I don’t know what you did, but thank you,” Caroline said.

What had she done that warranted thanks?

“Sara called me. She’s herself again, and she’s going through the therapy sessions to get released. She said you went to see her.”

Anna had forgotten all about Sara in the midst of her soap opera. She’d meant to visit again after having the dream to let the girl know it was safe to leave. That had been the turning point, when she’d decided she’d been wrong about Luc.

Why was she here again?

“Father Jeffries called me,” Caroline continued. “He said you might need support, and I know a bit about the situation, how . . . seductive he can be . . . ”

Dreams or not, the woman had no idea how seductive Luc could be. She wondered what Caroline would think if she knew Anna had been the favorite wife in his harem for weeks now. She doubted she’d be sitting so close.

The clock chimed the hour, announcing Father Jeffries’ arrival. He stepped solemnly into the room, his cardboard box with supplies in tow. “We’re going to do the ritual in here,” he said. “It’s the most holy place in the church.”

Anna wondered if it had been determined to be the most holy place because it was the sanctuary or because it was the only room he hadn’t fornicated in. God, she felt dirty. She wanted to leave, but the expectant looks on the faces of the priest and Caroline made her stay.

Cain and Jackson hadn’t been back, but there was no guarantee they’d never return. Soon Luc would be out of the house, too. It wasn’t that she felt she needed protection as much as she needed help resisting him. She wondered if there was any magic on earth that would make such a thing possible.

The priest unscrewed the lid of the olive oil and set about putting a small drop on Anna’s forehead and hands. When the oil touched the scar, it burned with a new fervor. She flinched but didn’t cry out. He repeated the process with Caroline and, finally, himself.

He began chanting in a language she didn’t understand but didn’t recognize as Latin. She guessed spells didn’t translate over when the books hopped dimensions. Maybe they were too specific and something got lost in translation. He took loose herbs that he’d ground into a fine powder with a mortar and pestle and held his hand out for her.

She joined him in the center of the circle and he sprinkled the herbs over the mark. The scar burned more intensely as it tried to resist the spell, fighting for survival. A small part of Anna rooted for it to succeed.

Caroline grasped her other hand, telling Anna to fight it as if she were actively resisting the ritual. She wasn’t, but it hurt worse than any fiery hell she’d imagined. The chanting became louder and more forceful. Then, when she thought she’d pass out from the pain, the scar glowed bright red for a moment and faded to nothing.

Anna fell to the floor in the middle of the circle and sobbed, not knowing where the tears came from or why. She only knew that she felt nothing but bone-crushing loss. As if someone she loved deeply had just died.

She hadn’t understood how strong the connection would be or how abandoned she’d feel when it was broken. She realized then that she hadn’t felt alone in weeks; she’d felt . . . connected, pulsing with life. And now it was gone. The sharp starkness of reality pushed in on her faster and harder as she struggled to make sense of it.

Until that moment, she hadn’t known that she didn’t want to be free. Not from Luc. Laughter bubbled out of her. A loud, incongruous noise in the silence of the church.

“Now, don’t you feel better?” Father Jeffries said.

She couldn’t stop laughing. The priest and Caroline seemed to think she was laughing in relief because she was free. But it was the irony. She’d thought breaking the bond would solve her problem, make her not want Luc anymore. But her soul cried out to him stronger than before, and all she could think about was getting back to the house.

He’d be angry with her for taking her safety so lightly to escape him. She didn’t know if he’d renew the bond again now that she’d broken it. She didn’t care; she just wanted to be back with him. The rest could be sorted out later.

Suddenly, waiting and sharing seemed like silly reasons to leave when he was everything she’d ever wanted. It wasn’t like he wouldn’t wait for her. She could take her time, and when she was ready, they could be together in that forever she’d so feared. She didn’t have to run from him. Too bad she hadn’t figured that out before the bond was broken.

Anna managed to compose herself and wipe away the tears still clinging to her face. “I’m sorry I wasted your time, Father.”

“What? No! You can’t let him get to you. It’s a residual effect,” the priest said, now frantic. “We have to take you to another dimension and hide you.”

Anna shook her head. She knew now she’d never do that. She’d return to Luc and beg him to forgive her. She belonged to him, and he belonged to her. Mystical bond or no.

“I’m sorry.” She turned to leave, but Father Jeffries and Caroline were behind her.

The priest grabbed one of her arms, and Caroline grabbed the other. “We can’t let you leave. I have a duty to protect you,” he said.

Caroline’s hand encircled Anna’s arm, and rage like Anna had never experienced rose within her. She jerked free, jabbing the woman with an elbow.

Caroline landed on the ground. Her eyes held betrayal as she touched a finger to her bleeding lip. “I can’t believe you’d go back to that monster.”

The priest tried to restrain Anna, but she spun and punched him in the nose. He released her, more from shock at the action than anything else. Her hand flew to her mouth, surprised at what she’d just done. Then she ran.

It was a couple of blocks before her pace slowed. Then headlights shone around the corner as a car came nearer. She didn’t have to see the face behind the wheel to know it was Father Jeffries with Caroline.

Small towns didn’t allow for much in the way of a night life, and all the shops on main street had closed their doors hours before. She ducked between a couple of buildings to force them to pursue her on foot.

She knew now that she would always run to Luc. She just hoped she could get to him this time.

Anna panicked for a moment, realizing she’d backed herself into a corner. The only freaking dead end alley in the whole of Golatha Falls and of course she had to be in it. That meant climbing.

She shimmied up the fire escape onto the roof of the Java Junkie. The roof sloped down in back, making it not quite a one story drop. A cluster of bushes below could break her fall. It was only one story after all. How bad could it be?

She dropped into the bushes and stifled a cry. It really did work out better on TV. She wasn’t going to be able to suspend her disbelief if she ever watched another action flick. Her ankle was hurt, maybe sprained.

Dry leaves crackled under Father Jeffries’ boots as he rounded the corner. “Anna?”

She maneuvered herself behind the bushes as quietly as possible. It was too open here.

“Anna?” The flashlight blinded her momentarily, but the foliage was too dense for him to make out her shape. It didn’t matter if he found her; she’d claw and fight him like a wildcat to get home.

“Call the rest of the parish. We need to find her. Get them to her house. We’ll head her off,” he said. Caroline’s footsteps trailed off as she tried to find a spot that would pick up her cell phone signal.

There was no way Anna would be able to fight them all off if they got to the house before her, and with cars she knew they would. She was still several blocks from her house with a hurt ankle. Why not hail and lightning next?

She felt around on the ground and found a tree limb that had fallen in the last storm. Some god was smiling down on her. Maybe not the one from this dimension, but one of them at least. She watched Father Jeffries through the bushes and felt the feral grin light her face.

When the branch struck his head, he crumpled to the ground. She was oddly pleased with herself. Then her eyes met Caroline’s. The woman was too frightened to move. She still held the cell phone stiffly, not yet having made a call.

“Give me the phone, Caroline. I don’t want to have to knock you out, too.” She raised the branch like a baseball bat and readied her stance.

Caroline’s hand shook as she held the phone out. “Why are you doing this?”

Anna slipped it into her pocket. “You can find a pay phone and call whoever you want once I’m safely back inside my house. Then you can bring whoever you want to try to drag me out of it. I dare you to.”

“Why would you do this? You must be possessed after what he did to Sara,” Caroline said.

“It’s not what she thinks. I saw it . . . in dreams.”

“Then he tricked you.”

“He didn’t.” Anna had never been more sure of anything.

Caroline was flustered. “Still, that’s no reason to go to him. You don’t owe him anything.”

“I love him.” It was true. She wasn’t falling in love with him; she did love him. And now that the bond was gone she couldn’t say it wasn’t real.

The priest was starting to come around. As satisfying at it would be to hit him in the head again, she didn’t feel like pressing her luck. She ran, ignoring the pain in her ankle and didn’t stop until she was safely locked inside the house. Her weight pressed against the front door as she panted, catching her breath.

The harem was clustered around the television in pajamas, all of them but Susan. They turned to stare at her.

“Where’s Luc?”

Renee smirked. “Where do you think? He’s having dinner with Susan.”

“Cute,” Anna said with an eye roll.

When she reached Luc’s room, she could hear soft moans coming from the other side of the door. She steeled herself and took a breath.

In about fifteen minutes they were going to be under siege by a religious mob trying to save her from herself and from Luc. Now wasn’t the time to be squeamish. But she couldn’t bring herself to turn the knob. It was bad enough to hear it, to know it was happening. She wasn’t sure she’d ever recover from seeing him with another woman.

He’d be angry with her for doing the ritual and causing the trouble in the first place. Very angry. Wouldn’t it be better for him to be mad on a full stomach, so to speak, than on an empty one? Anna ignored the voice in her mind that said she was a coward for not facing him.

She still felt dirty from her encounter in the church and needed a shower to wash the feeling off. It also might be good if Luc couldn’t smell the priest on her. She didn’t want him to know what had happened before she could break it to him gently, assuming the parish didn’t arrive first to beat her to the punchline.

A few minutes into her shower, the bathroom door clicked open. “Luc?”

Great. He’d heard her downstairs. So much for stealth. She finished cleaning up and grabbed a bathrobe. She was still tying the robe around herself when she walked into the bedroom.

“Luc . . . I . . . ” She looked up.

Cain sat on her bed with a self-satisfied smirk on his lips. “You’re a very stupid girl, Anna.”