Free Incubus Hunter by Kenya Wright

chose not to
disagree. Zoe had a point. Adae would be pissed that Jade and I
were gone. If he discovered that Blaze helped, then he’d probably
torture Zoe until he told him.
    “First, let me say something to you.” Blaze
grabbed Zoe in a flash and flew them high in the air before I could
say anything.
    What is he doing?
    I shifted my weight to my other foot and
wiped some of Zoe’s silver dust off of my forehead with my shaking
hands. Adrenaline coursed through me. We were going to get my
little girl, my baby.
    Blaze whispered something in his ear and then
Zoe nodded and looked down at me.
    Come on. We don’t have all night.
    They reappeared in front of me within
seconds.
    “What was that about?” I asked.
    Blaze’s leather jacket vanished, exposing
rows of hard golden muscle. The crystal sword appeared in his right
hand. Blaze tilted his head from side to side, shifting and
stretching his shoulders. “I just wanted to make sure we understood
each other.”
    “You didn’t threaten him, right?” I whispered
as Zoe materialized behind me.
    “Of course not.” Blaze gazed at the sword,
turned it around, and then slashed it in the air so quickly and
with so much force that I jumped back. Laughter bubbled from his
chest.
    “Come on,” Blaze said. “Let’s kill us a
couple of sorcerers.”
    “I can’t believe you hooked up with him.” Zoe
wrapped his long arms around Blaze and me, covering us in silver
dust.
    I coughed, feeling dust corrode my
throat.
    The tower’s view drifted away into a
distorted vision. The world spun around me for what seemed like
several minutes. I held Zoe’s arm with my left hand and my stomach
with my right, forcing myself to concentrate on Jade’s eyes,
instead of the nauseating sensation creeping through me.
    When the spinning stopped, we stood in the
nursery.
    Alphabet letters covered the large room’s
three walls. The fourth wall was made of glass so that the bidders
could observe the children as they played. The room smelled of baby
powder. Children’s crafts littered the floor.
    I stepped out of Zoe’s grip and tiptoed
around several children as they lay in twin beds, fast asleep.
    Blaze raced to the only door in the nursery
and cast a spell. It was supposed to keep the guards from opening
it.
    Bessie, a fat elf, woke up, jumped up from
her rocking chair, and whispered, “No, Carmen. You must go. Adae is
already sending guards down here. He thinks you’re going to try and
get Jade tonight.”
    “I am.” I hugged Bessie, wishing I had the
time to thank her for taking care of Jade.
    She looked up at me, confusion spread all
over her face as she began to speak. I pulled her closer to me and
sank my fangs into her neck, filling her with venom.
    Like me, Bessie was paying off a debt to
Adae, but she did it by taking care of the children. It was Adae’s
only saving grace. He never let any harm come to the kids.
    Bessie had to be asleep when Adae found her
or he’d torture her for information.
    Zoe helped me set Bessie into the rocking
chair. I turned around and rushed toward the twin bed in the corner
where several paper violets hung from a hanger by strings.
    My eyes watered. Tears spilled over.
    A hand gently touched my arm.
    “Where is she?” Blaze whispered as he showed
up by my side.
    I pointed to Jade as I continued to her
bed.
    She was fast asleep, smiling and holding the
lavender teddy bear I’d given her. I searched around her area.
    Should I grab some of her stuff?
    No.
    We didn’t need any memories of this
place.
    “She looks just like you. Beautiful,” Blaze
whispered, kneeled, and touched one of her ginger curls. “Are her
eyes violet too?”
    I smiled. “Yes.”
    “Good.”
    “Hey, guys,” Zoe mumbled as he stood by the
glass wall. “There must be twenty or thirty sorcerers heading our
way.”
    “I spelled the door, so there’s enough time
to escape.” Blaze stood up, glanced at Jade one last time, and
rushed toward me, pressing his lips to