Free Chase the Dark by Annette Marie Page B

base of her throat.
    Piper looked away, teeth clenched as she suppressed an uncalled-for urge to drape herself over the incubus. That poor woman didn’t stand a chance. A human might have wondered why the nurse was buying it; not only was she twice Lyre’s age, but even in her youth, she’d probably never had such a good-looking young man look twice at her. It was all part of the incubus magic; women always fell for it, no matter how unlikely his attention, how exaggerated his compliments, how farfetched his promises. No girl was immune.
    The nurse drank in every one of Lyre’s hot looks and velvet words, blushing even more brightly. Barely two minutes later, she stood and sauntered toward the gate, her wide hips swaying. The light overhead blinked green and a low buzzer sounded. Smiling without breaking eye contact, Lyre pushed the barred door open. The security guard barely glanced up from his book. The incubus stopped inside the door, one hand resting on a steel bar, as he let his worshipful stare travel slowly over the nurse as if she were Aphrodite’s reincarnation. Even Piper was impressed by his acting skills; incubi generally went for the young and gorgeous.
    Ash slid from his seat, pulling her by the hand while she shook off the haze of inappropriate fantasies parading through her mind. Damn horny incubus thoughts.
    Lyre moved away from the door as Ash took his place. He lured the nurse down the hall so smoothly she never even noticed Ash and Piper coming through the still-open door. The security guard looked up and saw them. His mouth opened furiously. Ash stood in the threshold, staring like he’d forgotten where he was. Panic flashed through Piper. Before the guard could speak, she plastered on a vacant smile and plopped down on his lap. His jaw dropped, his protest forgotten.
    “Hi,” she said breathily, batting her eyelashes. Unfortunately, she wasn’t a succubus, so the man stared at her for only a second before he looked at the oblivious Ash with an “is she effing crazy?” look.
    Ash was still holding her hand. She slung her other arm around the man’s neck and cuddled in. “I missed you, daddy,” she cooed in a little girl voice. “Where have you been ?” She giggled brainlessly.
    The guard looked outraged at being mistaken for dad-aged. With a sudden shake of his head, Ash finally snapped out of it. He mumbled an apology as he leaned over her as if he were going to pick her up. Instead, he caught the guard’s wrist. The air sizzled with magic and the man’s eyes rolled back. His head lolled as he went limp and started snoring.
    Piper lurched to her feet and shoved Ash with both hands, forcing him out of the way. As he stepped back, her hair blinked from blond back to red and black. “What the hell was that, Ash?” she spat. “You almost ruined everything.”
    He again looked down the hall, his nostrils flaring. Without a single word of explanation or defense, he shook his head and turned toward the nurse’s desk. Piper almost burst with fury but before she could say anything else, Zwi sprang onto the desk, a file folder already clamped between her teeth. Ash scooped her off the desk and passed Piper the folder. She swallowed her anger, saving it for later, and snapped the file open. It was her uncle’s. Could Zwi read?
    “He’s in room 344,” she read. “Damn. I was hoping he’d be on the main level.” She skimmed the page. “Thank God. It says he’s expected to recover . . . anticipate scarring . . . damage to left eye . . . broken ribs on right side . . . oh no.”
    “What?” Ash demanded.
    “It says his throat was damaged from”—she squinted at the page—“inhaling superheated air during the explosion. What if he can’t talk?”
    “Only one way to find out,” Ash muttered, grabbing her hand. Her hair turned blond again. “Let’s find the stairs.”
    Lyre had vanished with the middle-aged nurse. Lucky for him, he didn’t have to do anything with the