Free Incarnatio by Lynn Viehl

“Someplace
small and dark. Not much fun here.”
    She must still be in pain
from bleeding herself for him. “I never meant for you to hurt yourself for
my sake,” Jamys told her, reaching out for her. “Forgive me.”
    “I didn’t mind. I really
like you. And this place is fabulous.” She threw out her arms and whirled
around. “How long can I stay here?” Before he could answer, her arms fell
and her shoulders slumped. “They’re waking me.”
    “They?”
    She gave him a sad smile.
“Yeah, I have to go.”
    A fierce dread settled
over him. “Chris, where are you?”
    “I don’t know. Not a good
place.” She climbed up the side of the tree, pausing to glance down. “Your
uncle is right. This is your battle, Jamys, and you are your mother’s son.
Don’t forget what they both taught you.”
    Jamys jerked awake and
pulled the jacket from his head. The south Florida sky had turned pink and
gold, with dark blue clouds stretching out over the setting sun. As soon as
he opened the window, the unlovely smell of hot grease and cheap meat wafted
in. Parking behind the fast food restaurant had given him a chance to rest
without attracting notice, but he couldn’t imagine why humans patronized
such places. The food smelled so vile he wouldn’t have fed it to a goat.
    And if he kept thinking
about that, he wouldn’t have to remember the dream.
    The last rays of the sun
made his eyes burn, so he searched in his pockets until he found his shades
and slid them on. Whatever his dream meant, he knew Chris was safe, although
he would have to go back to her apartment and use her again. This time he
would have her call Lucan’s stronghold and relate what he had discovered.
This time he would write it all down rather than use his talent, so that he
would not further exhaust her.
    When Jamys arrived at the
girl’s apartment, however, he found the door ajar and the place empty. Her
scent was all over everything, but it was faint, as if she had not been in
the flat for some hours. He turned and saw her purse still sat where she had
left it on the small table in the kitchen, and went back to the bedroom.
There, by the bed, he picked up another, unwelcome scent.
    Luce had stood here, and
put her hands on the coverlet. She had come for Chris.
    Jamys cursed himself as
he followed the scent of both females, which lead out of the apartment and
down to the parking lot, where it abruptly disappeared. She must have taken
Chris away in a vehicle.
    Chris, who as a tresora in
training would know everything about Lucan’s stronghold, his defenses and
the number of warriors guarding him.
    Jamys jumped back into
the car and began driving toward the beach before he realized he couldn’t go
into the Kyn’s lair alone. He would have to return to Lucan’s stronghold and
somehow explain what had happened. He was tempted to pick up a human from
the street and compel them to speak for him, but with as much as he had to
say, they would only end up falling unconscious.
    He stopped at a petrol
station and parked next to a telephone booth in the lot. For the first time
since Alexandra had operated on him, he tried to use his voice. His tongue,
which the Brethren had mutilated and Alex had rebuilt, moved sluggishly, but
no sound came from his throat to form words. He tried again, but the muscles
in his neck knotted, and all that came out were bursts of air.
    You
didn’t tell your father about your mother’s evil. You hid away inside
yourself and let him suffer. Why would you think you could tell Lucan about
the danger to Chris, and how she is now being used against him?
    Jamys choked on the
bitter taste of his own helplessness, and without thinking rammed his fist
into the windshield. The glass exploded outward, bouncing all over the hood
of the car. He pulled back his hand and watched the glass shards fall from
his unmarked flesh. Chris’s blood had restored his strength – and he
couldn’t