Chapter Eight

NOAH CREPT THROUGH the maze of corridors. His heart pounded like he had been running a marathon, and every noise made him flinch. There had to be a way out. There were several doors, but Noah had no idea which might have an escape or not. The first door held nothing other than a few cleaning supplies. Noah eyed the bottles dubiously. What good was floor cleaner going to be against an incubus with his own live battery pack in the form of the clubbers? He skimmed the labels. Window cleaner? Bleach! He shook the bottle and determined that it was half-full. Better than nothing. Probably. At least if he got a good shot in, he might be able to blind the incubus or burn him or confuse him or something. Yeah. That was a great plan and definitely wouldn’t get him killed. Noah had the sense to open the lid in preparation. He clutched the bottle in one hand and his broken piece of chalk in the other, as if either of those things would save him.

Noah closed the cupboard and continued down the corridor. The next door looked much the same as the last one. Noah switched the chalk into his other hand so he could grab the handle. The thud of shoes hitting the floor nearly gave Noah a heart attack. The footsteps got louder as the person moved toward him. Out of options, Noah grabbed the door handle and burst into the room.

Two sets of eyes stared at him. A huge swell of emotion smacked into Noah, and he almost fell to his knees. Erik was there, alive. He looked worse for wear certainly, but he was alive. Noah’s elation plummeted when he looked properly at Erik. Erik had the glazed look of those still under the influence of the drugs. The next set of eyes brought forth a different torrent of emotions. The incubus. Leo’s eyes were cold and narrowed, and he was holding Erik’s arm.

“Incubus,” Noah hissed.

Leo’s eyes shifted from cold to interested, and Noah could have smacked himself. Apparently Leo had not realized that he was more than human. No human would have figured it out. He needed to do something. Erik was still there, doing nothing. That meant that Noah needed to fight because it looked like he couldn’t count on Erik for help. Leo released Erik’s arm, but the werewolf just swayed on the spot.

Noah held his ground as the incubus stalked forward. His body was in overdrive, adrenaline and nerves combining in a horrible cocktail. He needed to do something, but the only thing that felt likely was that he might throw up on the incubus.

“Erik,” he shouted, desperation driving his actions. The words didn’t cause any reaction from Erik. They just seemed to go in one ear and out the other. A jolt of harsh fear flooded Noah’s veins.

“Erik,” Noah choked the name out, but Erik still didn’t move. His gaze didn’t shift from some invisible point on the floor. What if Leo had done something permanent to Erik? The thought caused some rage. Rage was good, Noah decided. Rage could work better than nerves, so he channeled his fear, his worry for Erik, and his anger, his fury at the way Leo had harvested humans, into a rage like he had never felt before. The newly formed emotion filled him with energy, and Noah took a step forward to meet the storm head-on.

“What are you then?” Leo tilted his head as if he could pick up on Noah’s heritage from the way he looked.

“I’m going to be the person to end you.” The words came out far calmer than Noah really felt. He wasn’t the person that trash-talked anyone. Leo threw back his head and laughed. He laughed as if it was the funniest thing he had ever heard. The disrespect only served to heighten Noah’s annoyance, and he tightened his grip on the chalk. The chalk! He had an idea.

“What do you think I am?” he asked, desperate to delay the incubus. He just needed a few more minutes.

“I think you’re a fool, little human.” Leo scoffed. “You certainly think that I’m one. What do you think you’re going to do?” Leo saw straight through the ploy. Noah had only two advantages. He surged forward on a whim and shoulder barged the incubus. Leo staggered with the force of the blow but managed to stay upright.

“You’re going to have to try harder than that,” he chided. The whole spectacle seemed to be unbelievably amusing to him. Noah ached to break his nose. Dull pain throbbed through Noah’s shoulder from the force of the blow, but he forced himself to turn back and face Leo. He couldn’t give up. He just needed a minute’s reprieve to write some runes, but to get that, he needed space from the rampaging maniac. Noah ran forward again, this time ducking to one side instead of doing a straight-on hit. The action seemed to confuse the incubus, so he played his penultimate advantage and launched the bleach at him.

The liquid arched through the air and splashed Leo’s skin. For a second, Noah thought that the incubus was immune, but he hissed with pain and Noah struck. He gave another almighty shove, and Leo slipped in the bleach that had ended up on the floor. Noah didn’t take time to see if he was okay or not. He grabbed onto Erik’s arm and dragged him out of the room.

“You need to snap out of this,” he shouted as he continued to pull Erik along. The wolf remained completely pliant. Noah hated it. He hated this place. He hated this mission. He turned to Erik.

“Please,” he begged. “I need you, Erik. I’m not strong enough.” To Noah’s shame, a tear dripped down his face. There was nothing. Noah was alone.

“You can’t do this,” Noah shouted. “You can’t leave me alone!” He slammed his hand into the side of Erik’s face.

Noah almost dropped his chalk. He covered his mouth with one hand, in a gasp. He had just slapped the man he professed to love.

“Tut, tut, little human.”

The sound of Leo calling out sent Noah back into a panic. He grabbed Erik’s arm once more and stumbled along the corridor. This place was too confined for him to be able to put up any kind of fight. The incubus would just do that thing with the wind and fling them both against the wall like a child throwing a temper tantrum with its toys. The end door seemed most promising, but Noah was struggling to pull Erik along. Both taller and heavier than Noah, Erik was no help at all.

“I’m sorry,” Noah whispered as he let go of Erik’s arm. Hopefully the incubus would leave Erik alone and only go for him. It was a hollow hope. With both hands free, Noah grabbed the mangled remains of the chalk and scrawled lines on his hands. He almost fell into the door as he concentrated on making the lines as clear as possible rather than looking where he was going.

“That wasn’t very chivalrous.” Leo might as well have been commenting on the weather for all the concern in his tone. “Leaving your mate behind.”

The words struck a chord, though Noah knew without a doubt that it had been the right thing to do. He barged the door open with his shoulder and was back in a place he recognized. The trapped people were oblivious to the danger heading their way as Noah aimed for a clear space. He needed to try to avoid any civilian casualties.

Noah stopped in the middle of the room. This was it. There would be no more running. It was time to fight. Finishing the rune wasn’t any easier standing still. Noah’s hands shook with a multitude of emotions. With the final line, he clapped his hands together and the energy burst. The magic was messy as hell, but it was all he had.

Leo strolled into the room as if he had no cares or concerns. Arrogance would be his downfall, Noah decided. Pride before a fall.

“It’s time to finish this.”

Noah agreed. He took the initiative and thrust one hand forward, shooting energy at the incubus. He wished he could have photographed the look on Leo’s face for prosperity. His jaw dropped and the once-handsome face was lined with anger and stress.

“Witch!”

Noah kept silent. No stupid games were going to throw him off. The energy seemed to be keeping Leo busy, but Noah was certain that the incubus was capable of pulling more power. He aimed his other hand slightly higher and hit Leo with a second beam.

“This did get interesting.”

Noah shifted his aim so that the beam hit Leo’s face. When he shut up, Noah took that as a small victory.

Leo was simply shielding against the energy, dispersing it off into nothing, but he couldn’t seem to fire back and shield. He must be younger than Noah had estimated. Power was all well and good, but he didn’t have the skill to control it properly. Noah was not naïve enough to think that made him less dangerous, though. If anything, he was more dangerous. One wrong move and Leo could be the biggest explosion outside of an atomic bomb.

Leo dropped part of the shielding and sent back his own energy, which was absorbed into the blast coming from Noah. Noah took the opportunity to clap his hands together and fire off a harsh jolt at the gap. The blow knocked Leo back. Noah used the break to add an extra chalk line to his left hand. He flung his right one forward again and hoped that Leo hadn’t noticed him change the other spell. Leo pushed through the pain he must have been feeling and stood up. Noah took a deep breath and prepared to give it one final shot.

“Why do you get all the fun?”

The distraction was all that Noah needed. Leo looked away, and he fired off an additional blast. It took everything in him to keep his concentration on the incubus and not on Erik who had appeared.

“You were preoccupied.” Noah’s voice shook as he quipped back.

This time, Leo did not get up and Noah fell to his knees.