Five: Out of the Pit (Five #2) (12 page)

t took Alec a few seconds to register what the look on Joe’s face could mean. His smile slowly turned into a frown as the implication soaked in.

“Wait. Wait a minute. Why are you looking at me like that?” Alec leaned toward Joe.

Joe clamped his gaping jaw closed and forced himself to relax back into the recliner he sat on. “Nothing, Alec. See, this is exactly why I didn’t want to get into this discussion until I’ve had some time to look into things a little.”

“But, Seth was just joking. That isn’t even possible… is it?” Alec looked worried.

Joe sat in silence for an uncomfortable amount of time as we all stared at his downturned face.

“Well? Is it?” Halli asked

Joe looked at Alec with worried eyes. “It is possible, to answer your question, but not probable. Incubi can reproduce, I think I’ve told you all that before. Most of the time the mother dies before giving birth and the offspring dies along with her. Repeated exposure to an Incubus can cause the mind to be… altered. Having the spawn of an Incubus growing inside her, is like having a constant infusion of the… of whatever causes that alteration. The impregnated woman rarely escapes even a few months of the pregnancy without completely going insane… much less the entire nine months.”

“But you’re saying it
is
possible. That I could be…”

Joe sighed. “Yes, Alec. I suppose the possibility is out there.”

“So, what does that mean?” Johnathan asked. “What happens to the… offspring? What does that make them?”

“You’re all getting way ahead of yourselves here. I think we should all get some sleep.” Joe yawned again, patting his mouth with his hand.

“No. I want answers. There’s no way I can sleep after this.” Alec’s legs bounced up and down at a jackhammer’s pace.

“I’m not exactly sure about the offspring. I’ve heard different accounts. The most likely is that they are just normal boys or girls, with a little bit of their father’s… tendencies… or talents, I guess.”

Seth leaned forward. “I’ve read accounts that say the offspring of an Incubus kills the mother when it’s born, and feeds off her body. And, they grow at an impossible rate, like they’re full adults in like a year or something. And, they’re beasts that can’t satisfy their needs—”

“That’s all folklore, Seth,” Joe said. “The truth is, I’ve never knowingly met the child of an Incubus, but I’ve spoken with people who have. The only consistently different thing about them was that they were all orphans. And, very attractive to the opposite sex.”

“Well, both of those things describe me perfectly,” Alec said. “Especially the one about being
very
attractive.”

I worried that he seemed to be warming up to the idea his dad might be a horrible monster.

Joe shook his head in disbelief. “Look, Halli’s falling asleep on the couch. We could all use some serious sleep. Let’s each go find a room and we’ll talk about all this later.”

“I’m not asleep,” Halli mumbled.

I was all for getting some rest. Several days without a full night’s sleep had started to catch up to me. Plus, healing Joe had sapped much of my remaining energy. And, the pain of getting my eyesight back still exhibited itself in the pounding of my head.

“Sleep is a grand idea,” I said. “Come on Hal, let’s go find some rooms.”

Johnathan stood and helped me to my feet. “I’ll come with you. I want to make sure it’s safe.”

There were six bedrooms just in the upstairs alone. I didn’t even go into the basement; I’d already experienced living underground. I wanted a window, especially now that I had my sight back.

Halli and I chose two smaller rooms with full sized beds and a shared bathroom with a jetted tub. The thought of soaking in the tub, jets massaging my sore muscles, followed by a long sleep in a warm and comfortable bed brought tears to my eyes. “First dibs on a bath,” I yelled to Halli, as she jumped on her bed. She had apparently caught a second wind.

Johnathan snooped around the bedroom, sniffing everything like a dog. He had already blasted a picture of Trey into tiny bits. There had been a picture of him in every room we’d been in so far, and Johnathan had blasted every one of them.

Everyone stayed away from the master bedroom. Joe closed the door and we all left it that way. Johnathan and Joe chose rooms just down the hall from me and Halli. Seth and Alec picked rooms downstairs, already dubbing the entire floor the
bachelor pad
.

By the light of several candles already in the bathroom, I enjoyed my soak in the tub, but not as much as I thought I would. I was dead tired and kept nodding off. I finally decided to give in and just go to bed after my nose slipped beneath the water and I breathed water into my windpipe. I coughed so hard I nearly vomited.

I wrapped a towel around me and found some mouth wash in the medicine cabinet. I thought about Johnathan not wanting to kiss me until I’d washed all traces of Trey away. I gargled until my eyes watered, and then gargled some more.

I peeked in at Halli. She was curled up in a tiny ball, sound asleep. I really didn’t want to put the same dirty clothes back on to sleep in. I snooped in the closet and found it full of men’s clothing.
I bet every closet in this house if full of his clothes. He probably never wore the same thing twice.

I grabbed a long-sleeved, silk, dress shirt and slipped it on over my underwear. The hem came to my knees and I had to roll the sleeves up about three times. I crawled under the cotton sheets and down comforter and felt like I was in Heaven. I extinguished the
star-bright
sitting on the small table next to the bed and closed my eyes. Then I opened them.
What if getting my eyesight back was just a trick? What if, when I wake up, it’s gone again?
I didn’t think I could handle that. I was afraid to close my eyes.

I decided I had to see Johnathan’s face one more time before I fell asleep, just in case. I slipped out from under the covers, out the door and down the hall. I knocked lightly on Johnathan’s door. He didn’t answer, so I assumed he was sleeping. I decided I needed to see his face anyway, so I slid the door open and peeked into the room.

Johnathan wasn’t asleep. He stood, staring out the window at the red rocks that rose for miles behind the house.

“John?” I said in a quiet voice.

He jumped a little then turned his head just enough to see me peeking in the door before returning to his former position of staring out the window. “You should be sleeping.”

I entered the room and closed the door behind me. I walked to his side, slid my hand into his, and laid my head against his arm. “I wanted… needed… to see you one more time before going to sleep. I’m scared.” I whispered the words that were so hard for me to admit. I didn’t want anyone to see my fear, especially not Johnathan.

He looked down at me, surprised. “Of what?”

I shrugged my shoulders. “Of waking up to darkness again. Of this just being one big joke, giving my sight back just for the sheer demented joy of taking it again.”

He wrapped his strong arms around me and hugged me to his chest. His heart pounded, the rate increasing, as did mine, when I snuggled closer. “That won’t happen. I won’t let it.”

“Well, just in case, I want your face to be the last thing I see before I fall asleep.”

He tilted my chin up with a gentle touch of his hand. The moonlight shone brightly through the window. I smiled and said, “I gargled for like an hour after my bath.”

His lips turned up in a sad little smile. He stooped to kiss me. It was tender and sweet—and short. He rubbed his hand up and down my back then stopped. He pushed me away so he could look at the full length of my body.

“What are you wearing?” His voice was touched with hurt.

“Just a shirt I found in the closet. I didn’t want to put my dirty clothes back on after my bath.” A bit of defensiveness crept into my voice.

“You’re wearing one of
his
shirts.”

“Yeah, and I’m sleeping in one of
his
beds, in
his
house. And, so are you.”

He dropped his hands from my arms and turned back to look out the window. “I can’t deal with this right now, Paige. Every time I close my eyes I see him kissing you. I see
you
kissing him, the desire in your eyes—like you were going to die if he didn’t…” He growled and balled up his fists.

“John, I—”

“I know,” he whispered hoarsely. “You couldn’t help it. It wasn’t real. I know all that. It just doesn’t help how it made me feel. It’s too new. It was only a few hours ago that I saw him touching you like you belonged to him. I just need a little time, please.”

My throat tightened at the rejection. I couldn’t speak. I nodded and ran from the room.

Back in my room, I ripped the shirt off, the buttons popping and falling to the floor. I put my jeans and T-shirt back on and sat on the bed. The tears flowed as I lamented my life.
Why did we have to choose Moab? Why did Trey have to choose me? Why can’t Johnathan and I catch a break?

As tired as I was, I couldn’t fall asleep. I found myself wandering quietly through the house. In the library I found a picture of Trey that Johnathan hadn’t blasted. I studied the face in the picture. He was looking off to the side of the camera with a dazzling smile on his face. I didn’t feel one bit of longing or desire as I looked at him. Without him here in person, the spell he’d held on me was broken. Yes, he was a very handsome man. But that alone wasn’t enough. In the photo, I could see the emptiness in his eyes. I could see through his façade. I only wanted Johnathan. I hoped with a desperation I had never known that he would be able to get past this. That our love would be strong enough to weather this storm.

I looked at the picture and tried to see any resemblance to Alec. Their eyes were different colors—Trey’s were ice blue whereas Alec had golden-brown eyes with little flecks of hazel in them. The colors differed, but the shape was the same. More than that, they had the same mischievous look. His jawline and nose were nearly identical to Alec’s. The resemblance wasn’t blaring, but I could see it, strong enough to convince me of the possibility that Trey and Alec were related in some way.

I lay back on the soft cushions of the couch and closed my eyes.
What would it mean—to Alec and to the rest of us—if he was the son of an Incubus?
I remembered then that Joe had said something before, after my first encounter with Trey, about Merlin being the son of an Incubus. Merlin, the most powerful wizard I’d ever heard of—not that I knew of many other wizards. Maybe it wasn’t such a tragedy. It would answer a lot of questions for Alec. Maybe his magic would be stronger. Or… maybe he would turn into a monster like Trey. He did, at times, seem to have struggles with integrity. But, I couldn’t forget the multiple times he’d come to my defense when he thought Johnathan or someone was treating me with less than the utmost respect. Alec was a flirt, no doubt about that, but I’d never seen him cross the line from flirt to downright rogue.

Those thoughts clouded my mind as the exhaustion finally won out. I fell asleep on the couch in the library.