Luke on the Loose Read online

  Instead of feeding into my bad mood, she pinched my flank. “Get up. I thought we were spending time together today.”

  “You just want me to help with breakfast,” I grumbled.

  “What makes you say that?”

  “Nixie and Naida were out late at the retention pond. I was going to bed when they were leaving. They were both tipsy ... which means they were out there for a very long time. You hate cooking alone, so you’re in here trying to recruit me.”

  “I need to develop a better poker face.”

  I lifted the pillow and found her watching me with curious eyes. “What?”

  “You don’t look very good,” she said after a beat. “In fact, if I didn’t know better, I’d say you were sick.” She pressed her hand to my forehead. “You don’t feel warm, but you look pale.”

  “I didn’t sleep well.”

  “Did you drink too much?” Her tone was accusatory. “You’re always crabby when you have a hangover. If you’d stop two drinks before your mind tells you to shut it down you would be so much better off.”

  “Thank you so much, Mom.” I pressed my eyes shut and rubbed my forehead. “I don’t have a hangover. I only had a few beers. I’m fine.”

  “You don’t look fine.”

  “Thank you so much for that.”

  She poked me again. “What’s wrong with you? Seriously, I’m starting to worry.”

  “You’re not worried. You just want me to keep you company while you’re cooking. What happened to your macho man? Why can’t he keep you company?”

  “He’s performing a security check of the perimeter.”

  “It’s Akron. There’s nothing to worry about in Akron. This is one of our dead stops. Every year we stop at the same place. Every year absolutely nothing happens.”

  “I know that and you know that. Kade is head of security. He’s never been to this location with us before and he likes to be prepared.”

  “He definitely reminds me of a Boy Scout ... and not in a good way.” I continued massaging my forehead. “What’s on the agenda for today?”

  “The usual. We have set-up to do and then we need to go to the grocery store. I thought you and I could do that together because you’re feeling left out.”

  “I am not feeling left out. I’m an adult. I don’t feel left out. That’s a high school thing.”

  She folded her arms over her chest and stared at me.

  “What?” I felt exposed and tried to tug the covers over my head. “Just stop looking at me. I don’t like it.”

  “You love it when you’re the center of attention.” She shifted so she was straddling me. If the position involved anyone else, it might almost be sexual in nature. But she was my best friend, so it was merely an inconvenience.

  “Knock it off.” I tried to buck her off. “You’re bugging me.”

  “You’re bugging me.” She was deceptively strong, even when she wasn’t using her magic. She easily held me down as I tried to dislodge her. “What’s wrong with you? I’m seriously worried. You never stay in bed this late. You’re too afraid you might miss something.”

  “That is a steaming load of crap.” Even as I said the words, I silently admitted defeat and let her pin me. “I didn’t sleep well. I kept having really weird dreams.”

  “Like that time you thought you were Princess Diana’s BFF and you were on a red carpet with her and had a sequined tuxedo with a snag and were afraid people would notice?”

  I narrowed my eyes. “No, Miss Smarty-pants. Not like that. It was more ... I heard someone in my head. A voice kept whispering to me.”

  She made a face. “Was it something sexual?”

  “No. It was a woman … er, or maybe a man with a high voice. It was really hard to tell.”

  “Really?”

  “She did sound kind of sexual.” And that right there was the crux of my morning malaise. “You don’t think I’m turning straight, do you? That would totally depress me.”

  She barked out a laugh, her eyes lighting. “I very much doubt it. Straight people have dreams about people of the same sex all the time. It doesn’t necessarily mean anything. Although, I did read a dream interpretation book a few months back and I seem to remember that if you have a sex dream about someone of the same sex and you’re straight, it means you’re proud and secure in your sexuality. I bet that is probably the same for a gay person who dreams about heterosexual sex.”

  I furrowed my brow. “Do you think that’s true?”

  “I don’t see why not. Don’t worry about it, though. I guarantee you’re gay.”

  “How can you guarantee that?”

  “You’ve seen me naked several times and never reacted.”

  She was so serious I couldn’t stop myself from laughing. “You’re thinking a heckuva lot about yourself these days, aren’t you? He may drive me crazy, but Kade has been good for your self-esteem.”

  “I’ve always had good self-esteem.”

  “When it comes to magic, work and handling random people, that’s certainly true. When it comes to love, not so much. Still ... It’s nice to see you happy.”

  “I am happy,” she agreed, her expression content. “You should be happy, too.” She pressed her hands to my chest. “The best way to do that is to get up. Don’t let a weird sex dream mess you up for the entire day.”

  “That’s just it. I don’t believe the dream was sexual. It was as if the voice wanted it to be sexual but couldn’t quite make it happen. The voice also switched between male and female ... it was weird. I never saw who was speaking. There were no explicit pictures in my head. It wasn’t about sex.”

  “Then what do you think it was about?”

  “I have no idea. I tried to wake myself up. I knew it was a dream. I couldn’t do it no matter how hard I tried. I don’t know how to explain it.”

  “That is definitely weird.” She tilted her head to the side and tapped her chin. “Maybe we can find a bookstore while we’re in town and discover something specific to analyze dreams. It might be worth a shot.”

  “I’ll keep it in mind.” I tried to dislodge her again, but she was ready for the move. “Will you stop molesting me? I don’t roll that way.”

  Instead of reacting as I expected, Poet shifted her eyes to the door. I heard a noise there at the exact moment she sensed a presence, and when I jerked my eyes that way I found Kade watching us with unreadable eyes.

  “Oh, well, it’s nice to know you guys have eschewed knocking as a general consideration together. I would hate for only one of you to be rude.”

  “Most guys would be upset to find their girlfriend in bed with another guy,” Kade drawled. “I’m not surprised in the least.”

  “We’re not doing anything,” I argued. “Besides, she’s the one on top of me ... and she refuses to get off.”

  “She’s a stubborn little thing,” Kade agreed. He flashed a tight smile that didn’t make it all the way to his eyes. “I’m not here for fun and games. Poet, I need you to come with me. We have a situation.”

  The tone of his voice caused me to stop grappling with my best friend and focus on him. “What’s wrong?”

  “It’s one of the clowns,” Kade replied. “She’s dead. One of the other clowns found her when she didn’t join them for breakfast. I can’t find any marks on her body. I want you to check her out for signs of a paranormal attack before I do anything else ... like call the police.”

  Poet wordlessly climbed off me as I pushed my hair back in place. “Okay,” she said. “I’ll take a look. Do you know which clown?”

  “Calamity. At least that’s the name they gave me.”

  “Calamity?” I looked to Poet for help. “Is that the one with purple hair and a weird tattoo?”

  “I didn’t see a tattoo,” Kade supplied.

  “I should hope not,” Poet said. “It’s on her butt.”

  Kade made a face. “Do I even want to know?”

  “Probably not, but we need to take a look all the same,�
�� she said. She was all business when she stood. “Let’s go.”

  “I’ll be a few minutes behind you,” I offered. “Don’t do anything exciting without me.”

  “I would never consider it.”

  BY THE TIME I MADE IT to clown row a crowd was milling near their communal cooking area and the door to the trailer was open. I didn’t wait for an invitation, instead taking the steps two at a time and launching myself into the sparse environment.

  “What do you have?” I pulled up short when I saw the body on the bed. Calamity was naked from the waist down and her nightgown was bunched up beneath her neck. I recognized her right away — the purple hair was a dead giveaway even though the tattoo was obscured thanks to her position. “Oh, geez.”

  “She’s definitely dead,” Poet said as she kneeled next to the woman’s head and stared at her profile. “I can’t find a wound. I mean ... there are no fang marks. Her neck doesn’t look to be broken. I don’t see any bruises forming.”

  Kade wore a pair of rubber gloves as he pressed his hands to her skin. “I would estimate that she’s been dead about five hours ... but I’m not an expert.”

  “It obviously happened during the night,” Poet agreed, pursing her lips. “Does anyone else smell cake?”

  “Cake?” Kade’s forehead wrinkled. “I most certainly do not smell cake. I smell urine. I think she relieved herself during the event ... whatever that event was.”

  I hadn’t initially noticed the urine — though how that was possible was beyond me because there was a noticeable stain on the sheets — but now it was all I could focus on. “Geez. That is really gross.”

  “It’s normal,” Poet argued. She didn’t appear bothered by the dead body. “But I definitely smell cake.” She looked to me for confirmation. “What about you?”

  “I have no idea.” I opted for honesty. “All I can smell now is urine because he pointed it out. You know how I am about that stuff.”

  “I do,” she agreed, perfunctorily nodding her head. “When you first heard golden showers were a real thing and not a joke you showered eight times a day for a week straight until something else grossed you out. I believe it was when you heard some women actually defecate when giving birth.”

  “Ugh!” I was officially horrified. “And I thought the dreams I had last night were weird. Now I won’t be able to sleep for a week. Thanks a lot, Poet.”

  Instead of responding with sarcasm, she pinned me with a sharp look. “Wait a second ... .”

  “I don’t want this conversation to continue for a second longer,” Kade argued. “Seriously. I’ll be the one having nightmares. I hate it when you two feed off each other like this.”

  Poet ignored him. “Your dream.”

  “What about it?” I asked, legitimately curious. “I guarantee there were no golden showers in my dream.”

  “No, but you heard a whispering voice and it kept you up all night. You couldn’t wake up.” She slowly moved her eyes to Calamity. I was certain I’d heard her real name at some point over the years but I was drawing a blank trying to remember it now. “I keep smelling cake.”

  “There’s no cake in here,” Kade argued. “Even if there was, could you really eat given ... this?” He gestured toward the body. “I feel like throwing up.”

  “I don’t want to eat cake.” She snapped out the words and shook her head. “It’s a pattern. Luke didn’t want to get up this morning because he didn’t sleep well. He had a dream that was vaguely sexual in nature ... and he couldn’t wake up. It paralyzed him.”

  I understood what she was getting at before she even said the word. “An incubus,” I muttered, rolling my neck. “Oh, geez. I was kind of hoping those things were extinct.”

  Kade wrinkled his nose. “What’s an incubus?”

  I kept forgetting that he was relatively new to the game. He fit in with us easily, almost seamlessly — and don’t think I wasn’t bitter about that — but he still didn’t understand some of the bigger enemies that plagued our world.

  “An incubus is a male demon,” Poet explained. “It looks human, acts human, but it’s so much more.”

  “How does it kill?” Kade’s gaze was back on Calamity. “I don’t see any marks on her body.”

  “That’s because an incubus kills in a very specific way.” Poet looked to me for help. “Um ... how can I explain this delicately?”

  “Screw that,” I interjected. “We don’t have time for you to be delicate. I’ll handle this.” I pinned Kade with a look. “An incubus is always a male demon — a succubus is a female, but that’s not what we’re dealing with here, so we can put off the explanation of the snake-like tongue for later. It kills its victims by having sex.”

  Kade’s mouth dropped open. “Get out!”

  “I wish he was exaggerating, but it’s true,” Poet said dryly. “An incubus is always attractive, to the point he looks like a male model ... or actor ... or one of those really hot construction guys who is always sweaty and sexy no matter how many hours he’s been working.”

  Kade rolled his eyes. “I guess we know which fantasy you’ll want to act out next.”

  She ignored the statement. “An incubus lures a woman with a song only she can hear. It sounds like whispering on the wind, except to music.” She held my gaze. “During sex, the incubus essentially drains his partner of her life essence. When he’s done – had his fill, so to speak – she’s dead and he’s bolstered by the essence he stole.”

  Kade rubbed the back of his neck. “I’m not sure I understand. How does he steal the essence? There’s not a mark on her body as far as I can tell.”

  “He steals it from inside,” Poet replied, shifting from one foot to the other, uncomfortable.

  “Inside?”

  Kade was either being purposely daft or simply couldn’t see the obvious answer. I clearly had to slam the information home.

  “Through her vagina,” I offered, pointing. “That’s why she’s naked from the waist down. Incubi have magic penises. I know I always say I do — and you probably think you do — but in this case, it’s true.”

  “Oh, man!” Horrified, Kade slapped his hand to his face and covered his eyes. “I’m definitely going to have nightmares.”

  “That explains why Luke couldn’t wake up last night,” Poet volunteered. “He heard the incubus’s song. I don’t think that’s supposed to happen because he’s not a woman — I’ve never heard of a gay incubus — but he was still entranced in the demon’s thrall.”

  “So ... wait.” Kade held up his hands to silence us. “You’re saying this demon can enthrall women — and possibly Luke — because it’s a sexual beast that can cast a spell. Why didn’t you fall under its thrall?”

  Poet shrugged. “I honestly don’t know. My understanding is that an incubus only approaches single females. They don’t go after married individuals or those who regularly share a bed with someone. It could be that’s just convenience so they don’t get caught, but I don’t know for sure. Regardless, one of the ways the incubus lures in females is by emitting a favorite scent — like cake — and singing the song. Once the incubus starts singing in whispers, the victim can’t do much of anything except take it. Essentially, by that point, it’s too late.”

  “Holy ... !” Kade pressed his lips together and shook his head. “I don’t even know what to say to this. Basically you’re saying that we’re looking for a hot male demon that kills with his penis. That’s the important part, right?”

  She nodded. “I hate to say it, but we can’t call the police on this. There’s nothing they can do to stop an incubus and we can’t explain it. We’ll have to handle this one on our own ... including getting rid of the body.”

  “Oh, well, great.” Kade pinched the bridge of his nose and looked to the ceiling. “And you guys thought Akron was going to be boring.”

  “It’s still going to be boring,” I offered. “It’s sad for Calamity because ... well, she’s dead. It’s not so bad for us, though. We know w
hat we’re up against now. We just have to find the incubus. Once we do, they’re easy to take out.”

  “Oh, yeah?” Kade brightened considerably. “How do you do that?”

  “Beheading and then a good body burn. You know, normal fun.”

  “I think we need to have a discussion about what is and isn’t fun,” he challenged.

  “If you say so.” I turned to Poet. “We need to handle the body first and then question the other clowns and midway workers. If we’re lucky, we can get a description of the guy we’re looking for.”

  “That’s only if they saw him,” Poet countered. “Odds are they didn’t. I’m more interested in why the dreamcatcher didn’t alert. Incubi are demons. They shouldn’t be able to cross the dreamcatcher lines without us knowing.”

  “So ... how did it happen?”

  “I don’t know. We need to find out.”

  That was an understatement and I didn’t agree simply because I was a potential victim. The dreamcatcher was supposed to be infallible. If it was failing now, there had to be a reason and we needed to figure out exactly what it was.

  Three

  We left Dolph and Nellie to handle Calamity’s body. Mark Lane, the oily midway head honcho, was waiting for us outside the trailer when we exited, and he made a beeline straight for Poet.

  “What are you going to do about this?”

  Kade extended a hand to make sure Mark didn’t invade Poet’s personal space and openly glared. “We’re working on it.”

  Mark glanced down at Kade’s hand, which had landed on his chest, and offered up an exaggerated look. “Do you want to stop touching me?”

  Kade correctly read the hostility in the man’s voice and didn’t back down. “Not particularly. I’m making sure you don’t touch Poet.”

  “I have no intention of touching her,” Mark sneered.

  “Then you have nothing to worry about.” Kade flashed an irritating smile — one I’d wanted to smack off his face on more than one occasion — and kept himself between Mark and Poet while she rolled her eyes and focused on me.