If I Die

a girl.”

“So then Danica was just the first, right?” I asked. “There will be more like her?”

“Yeah, or there may already have been. He could have a whole string of miscarriages and pregnant girls behind him, but based on the fact that he’s still trying, I’m guessing he doesn’t have a son yet.”

“Who cares if it’s a boy?” Sabine asked. “What, he’s a sexist lust-demon?”

Alec actually laughed. “Only the boy babies are incubi. Girls share their mothers’ species and are usually considered worthless.”

“So, you can’t put an incubus and a human girl together and get a succubus?” I asked, sorting through the details in my head.

“Nope.” Alec shook his head. “They’re two completely different species. And consider yourself lucky you’re dealing with an incubus, because the only thing scarier than a succubus trying to get pregnant is a succubus who’s already pregnant. Talk about hormonal…”

“What did you mean about the girl babies being worthless?” Sabine asked, her eyes going dark again, and I realized he’d hit one of her hot buttons. As a toddler, Sabine was abandoned by her parents on a Dallas church doorstep, and after that, she’d bounced from one foster family to the next, for most of her life.

Alec shrugged. “They’re almost always abandoned by the incubus. As recently as a few decades ago, it was difficult for a mother to raise an illegitimate child alone, so the baby might have been abandoned by the mother, too. That’s not much of an issue today, though.” The mara didn’t answer, but I could see anger simmering quietly in the dark depths of her eyes.

“So, how does this charm work?” I asked, trying to redirect the discussion.

Alec shrugged. “I’ve never actually met an incubus, and I’m not sure his charm would work on me even if I liked guys, because I’m half-hypnos.” His father was a minor Netherworld creature who fed on the energy from sleeping humans, as it bled through the barrier between worlds. “But from what I understand, just being around him makes people…well, want him. If he’s reining it in, which he probably is in a public place, it’ll exaggerate the symptoms of physical attraction. Students may start competing for his attention. They’ll flirt and try to impress him. They’ll touch him and try to get him to touch them. They’ll become infatuated with him very quickly and personally offended by criticism of him.”

Uh-oh. That sounded like Emma already.

“It’ll be strongest with those who are already attracted to him, but it could have a light effect on just about any human,” Alec continued. “But when he finds someone he wants, either to impregnate or to feed from, he’ll turn it on full-strength, and the lucky girl will… Well, she’ll need him. Desperately. Like a craving she can’t control.”

“But it’s like some kind of spell, right?” I said, uncomfortably reminded of the strength of Nash’s Influence, when he lost control of it. “She doesn’t really want him, she just thinks she does, because of this charm crap. Right?” I said, thinking back to Danica’s physical obsession with her baby’s father.

“I don’t know, Kay,” Alec said, obviously reluctant to voice whatever was coming next. “I think it’s less like a spell and more like primal physical attraction. It’s hormonal, and it’s very strong.”

“Do they actually fall in love with him?” Sabine asked, her nose wrinkled in disgust, and I was relieved to realize we were on the same page for once.

“No,” Alec said. “And most of them have no delusions about that—at least, the older, more experienced women. They know they don’t love him. They may not even like him. But they physically have to have him, like they have to have food and air.”

“So…sleeping with him is consensual?” Sabine asked.

“No,” I said, just as Alec said, “Yeah.”

I turned on him in surprise. “No, it’s not. It can’t be. This ‘charm’ of his is like a…a drug. They’re not in their right minds. Right?”

“I don’t know, Kaylee. I think they really want him. In fact, some young incubi have been mobbed, like celebrities.”

“Do they have a choice?” Sabine asked. “Can girls fight his charm?”

“Yeah. It takes a lot of willpower, but yes,” Alec said. “Definitely.”

“They shouldn’t have to fight,” I insisted, struggling with a squirming discomfort the entire discussion dredged up in me. “The fact that they have to proves that it’s not consensual. Not really. And you’re not going to change my mind.”

Alec nodded. “I’m not even gonna try.”

“So…any idea how to stop him?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know how to get rid of an incubus, other than giving him a son. Ask your dad for help?”

I shook my head. “Can’t. He has his hands full trying to save my life right now.”

Alec frowned. “How can he…?”

“He can’t. But telling him that does no good. I’ve tried, and so have Tod and Harmony. Feel free to add your voice to the chorus.”

“So anyway, we’ve only got four days to take this murdering, daughter-abandoning bastard down.” Sabine hesitated, then shrugged. “Well, you only have four days. I have as long as it takes.”

The truth of her statement hit me like a brick to the forehead, and the room swam around me. I set Styx on the couch and stood, staring straight into the mara’s eyes. “Sabine, I think he’s going after Emma. You have to promise me you’ll watch out for her if I die before we get rid of him. Don’t let her wind up like Danica. Please.”

Sabine frowned, staring up at me. “At this point, I think you actually owe me another favor, bean sidhe…”

“Promise me!” I grabbed her arm and hauled her to her feet, almost as surprised as she was by my strength. “She’s human, and she’s defenseless, and she’s my best friend, which has already gotten her killed, and possessed, and on the radar of two different hellions. You’re not leaving this house until you promise me you’ll protect her when I’m gone. You can inherit her just like you will Nash. You need a real friend anyway.”

Sabine stared at me like I’d lost my mind. “Emma doesn’t even like me.”

“I don’t care! I swear if you let her get hurt, I’ll haunt your ass for eternity. I’ll turn up in the room every time you’re alone with Nash, and you’ll never get another taste of him. Ever.”

Her pierced right brow rose in interest. “How are you gonna do that?”

“I’ll find a way…”

“Jeez, settle down, Mama Bear, I’m not gonna let Emma get hurt.” Sabine pulled her arm from my grasp and dropped back into my dad’s chair, grinning up at me. “I just wanted to see how good your threat would be.”

I had to concentrate to unclench my jaw. “How’d I do?”

Her head bobbed, almost respectfully. “Not bad.”

“Not bad, nothin’, that was badass!” Alec said, and I turned to see him watching me, already on his feet, ready to come to my rescue if Sabine had decided to bite back. “That was great, how your voice got all deep and scary.”

“It did?” ’Bout time my voice did something helpful for a change.

I sank back onto the couch next to Styx, who yipped and watched me until she was convinced I was okay. Then she curled up in my lap and went back to sleep again. “Okay, so we know Beck’s hurting people, but we don’t know how to get rid of him…” I began, making a conscious effort to guide us all back onto the subject.

“Short of killing him? No,” Alec said, plopping onto his end of the couch again, soda in hand.

“Well, that’s a moot point anyway, ’cause I don’t think I could kill someone.” Except maybe in self-defense. Or Emma-defense.

Sabine shrugged. “I could.” I glanced at her in disbelief, but she only rolled her eyes. “What? He’s a bad guy.”

“By whose definition of bad?” Alec asked, and Sabine and I shot him twin looks of disbelief. Alec sighed and sat up straighter. “Look, I’m not saying he’s a saint, but I’ve seen plenty of real bad guys in the last quarter century, ladies. Monsters who would do much worse than what Beck’s done, just to watch some poor girl suffer. But so far, it sounds like your math teacher’s just trying to feed himself and propagate his own species, both of which are rights the two of you take for granted.”