Beautiful Darkness(98)

“Even if we knew where we were, it could take days to find it on this map. We don't have time.”

“Well, we'd better get started. It's all we've got.”

But it was something — something that made it feel like we might actually be able to find Lena. I wasn't sure whether it was because I believed the maps could get us there or because I thought I could.

It didn't matter, as long as I found Lena in time.

Good Lord willin’ and the creek don't rise.





6.19





Bad Girl


My optimism was short-lived. The more I thought about finding Lena, the more I thought about John. What if Liv was right, and Lena would never go back to being the girl I remembered? What if we were already too late? I thought about the swirling black designs on her hands.

I was still thinking about it when the words drifted into my mind. They were faint at first. For a second, I thought it was Lena's voice. But when I heard the familiar melody, I knew I was wrong.

Seventeen moons, seventeen years



Know the loss, stay the fears



Wait for him and he appears



Seventeen moons, seventeen tears …





My Shadowing Song. I tried to figure out what my mother was trying to tell me. You don't have much time. Her words rattled around in my mind. Wait for him and he appears…. Was she talking about Abraham?

If she was, what was I going to do?

I was so absorbed in the verse, I didn't realize Link was talking to me. “Did you hear that?”

“The song?”

“What song?” He signaled us to be quiet. He was talking about something else. It sounded like dry leaves crunching behind us, and the low whipping of the wind. But there wasn't even a breeze.

“I don't —” Liv began, but Link shut her down.

“Shh!”

Liv rolled her eyes. “Are all American guys as brave as the two of you?”

“I heard it, too.” I looked around, but there was nothing, not a single living thing. Lucille's ears perked up.

Everything happened so quickly it was impossible to follow. Because it wasn't a living thing I'd heard.

It was Hunting Ravenwood, Macon's brother — and his killer.

Hunting's menacing, inhuman smile was the first thing I saw. He materialized a few feet away from us, so quickly he was almost a blur. Another Incubus appeared, and another. They ripped out of nowhere, one after the next, like links in a chain. The chain tightened, and they formed a circle around us.

They were all Blood Incubuses, with the same black eyes and matching ivory canines, except for one. Larkin, Lena's cousin and Hunting's lackey, had a long brown snake curled around his neck. The snake had the same yellow eyes as Larkin.

He nodded at the snake slithering down his arm. “Copperheads. Nasty little bitches. You don't want to get bit by one of these. But then there are a lot of ways to get bitten.”

“I would have to agree.” Hunting laughed, baring his canines. A rabid-looking animal crouched behind him. It had the huge muzzle of a Saint Bernard, but instead of big, droopy eyes, it had sharp, yellow ones. The hair on its back bristled like a wolf's. Hunting had gotten himself a dog — or something.

Liv clung to my arm, her nails digging into my skin. She couldn't take her eyes off Hunting or his pet. I was pretty sure she had only seen a Blood Incubus in one of her Caster volumes. “That's a Packhound. They're trained to go for blood. Stay away from it.”

Hunting lit a cigarette. “Ah, Ethan, I see you've found yourself a Mortal girlfriend. It's about time. And I think this one's a real keeper.” He laughed at his own bad joke, exhaling wide smoke rings into the perfectly blue sky. “Almost makes me want to let you go.” The Packhound growled low in its throat. “Almost.”

“You — you can let us go,” Link stammered. “We won't tell anybody. We swear.” One of the Incubuses laughed. Hunting jerked his head around, and the Demon didn't utter another sound. It was obvious who was calling the shots.

“Why would I care if you told anyone? In fact, I enjoy the limelight. I'm a bit of a thespian.” He stepped closer to Link, but I was the one he was watching. “Who would you tell, anyway? Now that my niece killed Macon. Didn't see that one coming.”

Hunting's Packhound was foaming at the mouth, and so were his other dogs, the Incubuses that only looked human. One of them inched closer to Liv. She jumped, tightening her grip around my arm.

“Why don't you stop trying to scare us?” I tried to sound tough, but I wasn't fooling anyone. This time, they all roared with laughter.

“You think we're trying to scare you? Thought you were smarter than that, Ethan. My boys and I are hungry. We missed breakfast.”

Liv's voice was tiny. “You can't mean …”

Hunting winked at Liv. “Don't worry, sweetheart. We may just bite that pretty neck of yours and make you one of us.” My breath caught in my throat. It had never occurred to me that Incubuses could transform humans into their kind.

Could they?

Hunting flicked his cigarette into a patch of bluebells. For a second, I was struck by the irony of the situation. A pack of leather-clad, cigarette-smoking Incubuses were standing in a meadow right out of The Sound of Music, waiting to kill us while the birds were singing in the trees. “It's been fun chatting with the three of you, but I'm getting bored. I have a rather short attention span.”