Fire Me Up
Page 73
"No." I glanced over to Nora. "How do we know if he's telling the truth? I know a demon can't lie when I ask it a direct question, but does that work on an incubus?"
"I don't believe so," she answered slowly.
"I do not lie," Jacob said, his shoulders straightening. "I have no reason to lie to you. You do not wish for me to make love to you. You are my friends."
"That's right, and friends help each other. You said you don't know of someone at your house, but what about other houses?"
He made a halfhearted shrug. "There are no other houses in Budapest."
"OK, but what about incubi who come here from other houses?"
Jacob looked at me with an expression of mild amusement. "Incubi cannot leave the domain held by their houses. The House of Balint holds domain over Budapest and the surrounding area. No other incubus can cross into our territory."
"Really?" My gaze met Nora's for a moment. I rubbed my forehead. Something was niggling at the back of my mind, but I couldn't pin it down. "So that limits us to just the members of your house. How many are there?"
"Twenty-five?" he said. "Twelve brothers, twelve sisters, and the morpheus."
"The morpheus? The god?"
"No. It is a title for the head of the house."
"Ah. Well, that's good. That limits the numbers of incubi to just eleven, twelve minus you."
I raised an eyebrow at Nora. She rose and sat next to Jacob on the bed, He looked at her curiously, recoiling as far as the wards would allow when she suddenly leaned into him and pressed her nose against his neck.
"No, it was not him," she said, resuming her seat, her cheeks an ashen parody of their normally warm color.
"Good. Eleven to go. If you don't mind, Jacob, I want you to tell us about all eleven of your brothers. Give us their names, what they look like, and whether or not they have ever expressed any desire to hurt a Guardian."
It took three hours, but at long last I felt like we'd picked Jacob's brain clean of information about his incubus brothers. Unfortunately, we weren't any closer to finding out who was killing the Guardians, nor did I have even an inkling of who might be the murderer's target. There were some three hundred Guardians at the conference—any of them might be the intended victim.
"Thank you for all your help," I said to Jacob after Nora released the wards. "I appreciate it. If you can think of any of your brothers who have been hanging around the hotel the last couple of nights, I'd appreciate you letting either Nora or me know."
He shrugged out of the bathrobe, not the least bit bothered by his nudity. "Many brothers come in the night, but only because they are summoned. Only a few visit during the day."
I froze in the act of taking the bathrobe. "What? What do you mean, during the day? I thought you guys were tied to a sleep or meditative state. You mean you can come out during the day, too?"
"Yes, of course. When we take human form, we are as humans. We are not vampyr, you know," he said, a bit scornfully, "Sunlight does not bother us. Many of my brothers visit hotels such as this during the day, for how else will they know which summons to answer if they have not first seen the women who appeal to them?"
"Oh. I thought you guys had to more or less come when called."
The look he gave me really was scornful. "We are not attendants to be called with the press of a bell. The only one who can come of his own will is the morpheus, but he has shut himself away, shunning contact with mortals."
"Right. Sorry. No slur intended. So you guys can go anywhere you like in daylight. Are you only in human form in daylight? I mean, can you do the smoke thing during the day, too?"
"Of course! Although once we are in human form, we are indistinguishable from a mortal," he said, rolling his eyes just a little. "It would not make sense to be able to change form only at night. Many people sleep during the day, do they not? We provide twenty-four-hour service."
"Just like a good towing company. Huh. Well, thank you again, Jacob. I appreciate you being so cooperative. And about what we talked about—you really should think about breaking free from your house and moving to the country. There's no reason you need to be a stud if your heart isn't in it."
A wistful expression stole over his face before he dissolved into smoke. The smoke snaked out under the door, leaving behind nothing but the faintest smoky residue.
"Towing company, Ash?" Jim, released from its silence by the disappearance of Jacob, shook its head. "Man, I'm so glad I got a really quality Guardian as a demon lord."
"What do you think?" I asked Nora, sitting down on the bed, clutching the bathrobe, which was still warm from Jacob's body.
She was silent for the count of five. "I think we are going to have to wake up a great many Guardians tonight and warn them of the possibility of attack."
"You don't think they're going to be on their guard after the news of your attack this morning?"
"I think it is better to be safe than sorry," she said, her eyes thoughtful. She glanced at me. "What did you think of what the incubus had to say?"
My fingers smoothed over the bathrobe as I mulled over the miscellaneous bits of information that tumbled around in my brain. There didn't seem to be a pattern, anything I could grasp to unravel, nothing tangible to use to figure out the problem. But there was a nagging sense of familiarity, of something someone had said that was important. Damned if I could think of what it was, though. I rubbed my forehead again, then set the bathrobe aside. "I think you're right—we're going to have to wake up a bunch of Guardians. We'd better split up. The sooner we start, the sooner we can get some sleep."
Two hours later I slipped through the door into Drake's bedroom, still stinging from some of the comments received from irate Guardians I’d woken. At least we'd done what we could for the night. Nora asked to sleep in Drake's spare room again, and since I knew it wouldn't be in use, I told her she could, ordering Jim to sleep in the room with her.
Jim acquiesced, muttering something about finally being able to get a decent night's rest without snoring or squeaking bed springs. I wished Nora a quiet night and went off to make whatever amends I could with my fire-breathing dragon.
The room was dark, but the slight rustle of the sheets told me Drake was in bed. I peeled off my clothing, carefully navigating my way around to the side of the bed I'd claimed as mine, sliding beneath the sheets, hoping against all hope that Drake wasn't so wounded by what had happened earlier that he'd snapped my head off.
"I don't believe so," she answered slowly.
"I do not lie," Jacob said, his shoulders straightening. "I have no reason to lie to you. You do not wish for me to make love to you. You are my friends."
"That's right, and friends help each other. You said you don't know of someone at your house, but what about other houses?"
He made a halfhearted shrug. "There are no other houses in Budapest."
"OK, but what about incubi who come here from other houses?"
Jacob looked at me with an expression of mild amusement. "Incubi cannot leave the domain held by their houses. The House of Balint holds domain over Budapest and the surrounding area. No other incubus can cross into our territory."
"Really?" My gaze met Nora's for a moment. I rubbed my forehead. Something was niggling at the back of my mind, but I couldn't pin it down. "So that limits us to just the members of your house. How many are there?"
"Twenty-five?" he said. "Twelve brothers, twelve sisters, and the morpheus."
"The morpheus? The god?"
"No. It is a title for the head of the house."
"Ah. Well, that's good. That limits the numbers of incubi to just eleven, twelve minus you."
I raised an eyebrow at Nora. She rose and sat next to Jacob on the bed, He looked at her curiously, recoiling as far as the wards would allow when she suddenly leaned into him and pressed her nose against his neck.
"No, it was not him," she said, resuming her seat, her cheeks an ashen parody of their normally warm color.
"Good. Eleven to go. If you don't mind, Jacob, I want you to tell us about all eleven of your brothers. Give us their names, what they look like, and whether or not they have ever expressed any desire to hurt a Guardian."
It took three hours, but at long last I felt like we'd picked Jacob's brain clean of information about his incubus brothers. Unfortunately, we weren't any closer to finding out who was killing the Guardians, nor did I have even an inkling of who might be the murderer's target. There were some three hundred Guardians at the conference—any of them might be the intended victim.
"Thank you for all your help," I said to Jacob after Nora released the wards. "I appreciate it. If you can think of any of your brothers who have been hanging around the hotel the last couple of nights, I'd appreciate you letting either Nora or me know."
He shrugged out of the bathrobe, not the least bit bothered by his nudity. "Many brothers come in the night, but only because they are summoned. Only a few visit during the day."
I froze in the act of taking the bathrobe. "What? What do you mean, during the day? I thought you guys were tied to a sleep or meditative state. You mean you can come out during the day, too?"
"Yes, of course. When we take human form, we are as humans. We are not vampyr, you know," he said, a bit scornfully, "Sunlight does not bother us. Many of my brothers visit hotels such as this during the day, for how else will they know which summons to answer if they have not first seen the women who appeal to them?"
"Oh. I thought you guys had to more or less come when called."
The look he gave me really was scornful. "We are not attendants to be called with the press of a bell. The only one who can come of his own will is the morpheus, but he has shut himself away, shunning contact with mortals."
"Right. Sorry. No slur intended. So you guys can go anywhere you like in daylight. Are you only in human form in daylight? I mean, can you do the smoke thing during the day, too?"
"Of course! Although once we are in human form, we are indistinguishable from a mortal," he said, rolling his eyes just a little. "It would not make sense to be able to change form only at night. Many people sleep during the day, do they not? We provide twenty-four-hour service."
"Just like a good towing company. Huh. Well, thank you again, Jacob. I appreciate you being so cooperative. And about what we talked about—you really should think about breaking free from your house and moving to the country. There's no reason you need to be a stud if your heart isn't in it."
A wistful expression stole over his face before he dissolved into smoke. The smoke snaked out under the door, leaving behind nothing but the faintest smoky residue.
"Towing company, Ash?" Jim, released from its silence by the disappearance of Jacob, shook its head. "Man, I'm so glad I got a really quality Guardian as a demon lord."
"What do you think?" I asked Nora, sitting down on the bed, clutching the bathrobe, which was still warm from Jacob's body.
She was silent for the count of five. "I think we are going to have to wake up a great many Guardians tonight and warn them of the possibility of attack."
"You don't think they're going to be on their guard after the news of your attack this morning?"
"I think it is better to be safe than sorry," she said, her eyes thoughtful. She glanced at me. "What did you think of what the incubus had to say?"
My fingers smoothed over the bathrobe as I mulled over the miscellaneous bits of information that tumbled around in my brain. There didn't seem to be a pattern, anything I could grasp to unravel, nothing tangible to use to figure out the problem. But there was a nagging sense of familiarity, of something someone had said that was important. Damned if I could think of what it was, though. I rubbed my forehead again, then set the bathrobe aside. "I think you're right—we're going to have to wake up a bunch of Guardians. We'd better split up. The sooner we start, the sooner we can get some sleep."
Two hours later I slipped through the door into Drake's bedroom, still stinging from some of the comments received from irate Guardians I’d woken. At least we'd done what we could for the night. Nora asked to sleep in Drake's spare room again, and since I knew it wouldn't be in use, I told her she could, ordering Jim to sleep in the room with her.
Jim acquiesced, muttering something about finally being able to get a decent night's rest without snoring or squeaking bed springs. I wished Nora a quiet night and went off to make whatever amends I could with my fire-breathing dragon.
The room was dark, but the slight rustle of the sheets told me Drake was in bed. I peeled off my clothing, carefully navigating my way around to the side of the bed I'd claimed as mine, sliding beneath the sheets, hoping against all hope that Drake wasn't so wounded by what had happened earlier that he'd snapped my head off.
