Incubus Freedom Read online

  Incubus Freedom

  INCUBUS, Volume 5

  Emma Jaye

  Published by Purindoors Publications, 2018.

  This is a work of fiction. Similarities to real people, places, or events are entirely coincidental.

  INCUBUS FREEDOM

  First edition. April 4, 2018.

  Copyright © 2018 Emma Jaye.

  Written by Emma Jaye.

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  CHAPTER 1

  CHAPTER 2

  CHAPTER 3

  CHAPTER 4

  CHAPTER 5

  CHAPTER 6

  CHAPTER 7

  CHAPTER 8

  CHAPTER 9

  CHAPTER 10

  CHAPTER 11

  CHAPTER 12

  CHAPTER 13

  CHAPTER 14

  CHAPTER 15

  CHAPTER 16

  CHAPTER 17

  CHAPTER 18

  CHAPTER 19

  CHAPTER 20

  EPILOGUE

  Note From the author

  Emma Jaye Books

  CHAPTER 1

  Coming back into the red room after conferring with the other delegates Avery cleared his throat to get their attention.

  “By the power vested in me by the elected body representing the supernatural species of the world, I pronounce judgement on the accused.”

  A snort came from Fabian. Avery looked at the vampire, even though being in the same room turned his stomach. He’d always known his predecessor as the supernatural council’s leader looked down on him, on his entire species. However, he’d never dreamed how deep his fellow demon’s contempt ran. To Fabian, sex demons were weak, almost mindless toys, put on the earth for his pleasure. Well now it was Fabian’s turn to experience what it felt like to be powerless.

  “You have something to say, former delegate?”

  Fabian’s eyes flashed red for a moment. Avery wondered if it had been an unwanted reaction or a conscious attempt at intimidation.

  “Now, now little bloodsucker, play nice,” Arioch rumbled. The vengeance demon who had been revealed as Silas’s biological father was in his full male demonic form. If you looked up ‘devil’ in any human books, this is what you saw. Eight feet tall, with curling ram’s horns, cloven hooved, a forked tail and dark red skin. Avery hadn’t seen this display very often, but he had to admit, Arioch was impressive.

  “Don’t threaten me,” Fabian ground out.

  “Wouldn’t dream of it, old chap. Just as you wouldn’t be trying to intimidate the leader of the council.”

  Avery gave the vengeance demon an ‘I don’t need your help’ glare.

  “If you’ve finished playing who’s got the biggest balls, can we get on with this?” Pixie snapped. “Fabian, I think you deserve to be turned into a mouse and put in a room full of cats, but I doubt they’d do that.”

  Because it would be unprofessional, Avery resisted smiling at her comment. Here in the ancient council chambers hewn by dragon’s breath, even if they were in a lounge filled with red couches, he had to maintain a certain air of decorum.

  “Shall we continue?” Avery said.

  Silas straighten in his seat, his expression blank. Fabian rolled his eyes as if bored, and Morvan hunched over.

  “Fabian, formerly known as Fabius, blood demon, you are found guilty of unlawful imprisonment of sex demons, Ezra Erotes and his sire, David. You are also guilty of grievous bodily harm and premeditated mental cruelty, plus inciting others of your clan to commit similar offences. We find you not guilty of human murder. However, we find you guilty of unnecessary cruelty. Even–”

  “What do you expect us to do for Satan’s sake? We’re blood demons!” Fabian exclaimed.

  “You know as well as I do that many clans, even back then, fed on uncompelled, cooperative humans in return for protection. And even if you only ever keep convicts there is certainly no need to terrorize them for months before you carry out sentence.”

  Fabian stared back without a flicker of emotion. “I was convicted without consideration for my species.”

  “Crying foul when you tortured sex demons and humans without consideration for their species? Tut tut,” Arioch piped up. The vengeance demon currently wore the ‘human’ male form he’d probably used to seduce Silas’s mother. It had certainly worked on Avery many times. Arioch was a constantly surprising meal.

  Avery turned to Morvan, the hulking, bald second in command of the vampire clan. The vampire stared at his hands. Sharing Ezra’s memories had impacted all three of the accused. The vengeance demon had already informed the other delegates that Morvan felt uncomfortable and regretted his actions. That Silas experienced profound regret hadn’t needed to be said, they had all lived it with him. Avery hoped many years would pass before he was called on to experience such evidence again. As a punishment, it appeared to have worked with both Morvan and Silas. Fabian was another matter.

  Silas looked Avery in the eye; a slight, wry smile on his face. They had kept the three accused asleep while they debated.

  Most of the hour-long debate revolved around Silas’s guilt. That Silas cared for Ezra, but had not prevented his suffering, except to attempt to end his life, was a conundrum.

  Avery’s initial reaction, raw from the projection, had been to convict every vampire involved. And if Ezra’s mother had still been living, cousin or not, Avery would have locked the evil, selfish bitch in with Fabian and thrown away the key. He’d struggled to contain his emotions, but had succeeded for the sake of his species and the young vascellum/demon pair who remained in a magical sleep. Ezra’s burns had been dressed, and his condition remained stable. Milo had proved to be a surprisingly effective nurse although his healing tongue hadn’t had an effect.

  “After experiencing what your victim went through, do you have anything to say, Morvan?” Avery asked.

  The bald vampire met Avery’s gaze. “I was brought up with the idea that my kind were superior, that other species, from animals to other supernaturals, were lesser beings who didn’t feel the same way we did. As long as they were fed; we had the right to use them.” He shrugged and glanced over at Finn and Ezra’s limp bodies.

  “We were wrong, but I can’t say I didn’t enjoy it. He’s....” Morvan swallowed, not taking his eyes off Ezra. “Even as I was experiencing it from his point of view, I erm...” He turned his face back to Avery and straightened up.

  “I can’t help what does it for me, but in the future, if I have one, I’ll find partners who want it the way I do, or I’ll remain celibate.”

  Avery stared at Morvan, the seconds stretching. The rest of the council had voted for a custodial sentence for Morvan too, but there were other aspects of the case to consider. The vampires were a powerful group, and getting them onside would be a major coup. Decision made, he spoke to the room.

  “Both Morvan and Silas were following a superior’s orders and acting according to their natures. Although both caused the plaintiff unnecessary suffering, both did what they could to minimize his discomfort. Neither were responsible for the decision to disfigure him, although both fully participated in the torture. Both have expressed contrition and I believe neither would do this again.”

  “No, I wouldn’t; you can count on that,” Morvan said. “Things cannot go on the way they did. Ezra affected all of us, to a greater or lesser extent. We haven’t kept another sex demon since.”

  Avery believed him.

  “I’d rather die,” Silas drawled. The half vampire, half vengeance demon, remained in a relaxed pose but Avery could sense his tension. Silas couldn’t keep his eyes from flicking over to Ezra every few seconds. Now he had experienced Silas’s memories, he didn’t doubt the demon felt a gre
at deal for Ezra. Love was a strong word, and Avery wasn’t sure it could be applied to blood demons, but he thought Silas might be getting there, or he had been a century ago.

  “You make me sick, both of you. Snivelling to these animals to save your own cowardly skins? You don’t deserve to call yourselves blood demons.” Fabian snarled, his lip curling in contempt.

  Avery ignored him. Fabian was no longer his problem.

  “Neither of the other two accused will face further charges.” Morvan let out a whoosh of breath; Silas simply turned his gaze back to Ezra.

  “Morvan, I have no right to influence vampire politics, but if you wish to apply to be the new leader of the Scottish clan, I’d be prepared to back your application. Continuity is important, and infighting could cause major disruption to all concerned.”

  Avery turned to Silas. “Silas, due to the obvious conflict of interest, you are hereby relieved of your position as governor of the supernatural prison; although you will remain a consultant. Arioch, would you like the position?” Avery asked.

  Fabian shot to his feet. “No, no damn way are you putting that in charge of me.”

  Avery didn’t see Arioch move, or change form, but the raven-haired woman who held Fabian off the ground with one slim hand around his throat, couldn’t be anyone else. The contrast between the slight female form and the masculine one had to have been chosen by Arioch to add insult to injury to the misogynistic blood demon.

  “Why Fabian, I’m sorry to hear you don’t feel like spending lots of time with me, somewhere cold and dark.” Without turning away from her victim, or losing her sly smile, she spoke again. “Am I free to take up my new duties immediately?”

  “Of course,” Avery replied in what he hoped was an irritating polite voice. The pair vanished.

  He hoped Fabian enjoyed living in a cell as much as his victims had. Fabian had been born around two thousand years ago, and he wondered if the sadistic vampire would end his days in the prison his step-son established. Sentence length hadn’t been discussed, but in the case of near-immortal demonic supernaturals, the term ‘life’ was a significantly different issue than it was for humans or shifters.

  The blonde, middle-aged suburban housewife look-a-like witch spoke up. “Sorry to interrupt, but we need to get to your estate. I’ve already called my coven and they should be waiting for us.”

  CHAPTER 2

  “It’s alright my dear, let go. They can’t hurt you ever again.”

  The pressure on his neck intensified and Ezra’s sight darkened; the view of the tear making its way down Silas’s sharp cheekbone disappeared.

  He had no idea how much time had passed since he’d died but now he sat on a white sand beach, the sun warming his flesh. Waves of a startling blue gently curled and broke, hissing as they ran up the beach and sighing as they retreated to the ocean. There were no walls, no screams, no pain, no hunger and best of all, no people. This, this is what Heaven looks like. Strange that a demon should be able to enter divine paradise, but he wasn’t arguing. Contentment filled his soul. He relaxed, basking in the serenity.

  The beach shrank as he was dragged away by some unseen force.

  “No, no please, I want to stay, don’t–” Reaching out, he tried to physically hold onto the scene as it disappeared. Being snatched away from his ultimate fantasy was yet another torture, one fouler than any physical abuse. But instead of the oblivion he craved, or being back in the cellar, he heard feet moving on a tiled floor.

  The smooth, warm, fresh smelling cotton beneath his cheek and the lack of the familiar musty scent of the cellar added to his confusion. Keeping his eyes shut, willing himself back to that beach. A curtain swished. There were no curtains in Fabian’s cellar. Even though his eyes had anvils tied to them, he cracked them open.

  A tiny, pink-haired woman wearing a painfully bright blue top of some odd clinging material and matching skin-tight britches stood with her back to him. Her delicate frame eclipsed the view of the sunset, or dawn, he didn’t know or care which. The desire, the need to see it overwhelmed him.

  The room had a brown and beige theme and he’d never seen anything like it in his life. Even the materials used to construct the floor and furniture were unfamiliar. Another bed lay between his one and the window and both were unusually high. They also had rails on the sides. To tie someone down or stop the occupant rolling out? The other bed wasn’t made up. The mattress material looked uncomfortably similar to the leather on the padded bench in Fabian’s cellar, but if it were leather, it was no skin he’d seen before. The whole room had been designed to be easily cleaned of bodily fluids.

  He didn’t like the look of the grey metallic box with wires and a cuff sitting on a wheeled stand near his bed. Probably some new torture device.

  The view of palm trees was being obscured as the odd woman closed the curtains. She didn’t look big enough to put up much of a fight, but he knew appearances could be deceiving.

  “Please, don’t shut them.” His voice sounded so foreign and croaky, that he wondered if he’d actually spoken.

  She turned slowly and smiled but didn’t try to close the distance between them. He relaxed a notch.

  “Hello Ezra. Remember me?”

  There was something familiar about her, but he swore he’d never seen anyone with pink hair before. The vampires might have taken his memory of her, or maybe she was someone from his childhood. Her shoulders drooped as he didn’t immediately greet her like a long lost relative. What does she want, a lie?

  “Not sure. Has your hair always been pink?”

  “Yep. I was born this way. I’m a fae.”

  “Should I remember you?”

  “I’m Pixie, and yes, as we’ve spent most of the last half century together, you probably should. What’s the last thing you do remember?”

  Silas’s whispers to let go, to relax, that he was sorry, came back to him. Ezra swallowed, surprised that his neck didn’t hurt. His chest did though, and his shoulder and lower back. The pain of being branded didn’t get any easier, but at least he understood it.

  “Never mind, don’t worry about it.” Her quick words brought him back to the room and her reassuring, sad smile. “I don’t suppose you remember how you got here either, or why, but you’re at the estate of the Leader of the Supernatural Council on a private island in the Mediterranean.”

  The slight flicker of hope died. When he looked, he knew he’d see a raw ‘F’ on his chest. Fabian still had him. Although an island in the Med and a room with a view was a better prison than a cellar in Scotland. I can work with this.

  “Which is now Avery.”

  Ezra blinked trying to assimilate the information. He knew of only one Avery. “My relative?”

  “That’s the one. Things have changed quite a lot since you were in the cellar.”

  An ‘A’ on his chest would be a change, but he’d never heard of an incubus keeping another captive, but what did he know? He’d only ever met one and his mother had sold him to the vampires. He wondered what Avery wanted with him. Surely having another incubus around would just be competition?

  He swallowed again, and his neck felt... light. Keeping his eyes on her, he touched his throat. Bare skin. His pulse went up. The protective collar had vanished. A glance down proved his wrist was also free from the cuff he’d worn for... The dressing covering part of his upper chest, confirming his earlier suspicions that he had been re-branded.

  At least they’d remind a vampire not to feed, if there were vampires here. His belly clenched at the thought of still being on the menu. Maybe Avery reached his position by appeasing other supernatural species and he no longer wanted to do his own ‘appeasing’. Would a more varied diet be good, or bad? He knew vampires. What the hell did other species like in bed? Not being able to give what his captors wanted, always resulted in pain, lots of pain.

  Pixie took a step toward him and stopped as if she didn’t want to frighten him, even though she was small enough for him to juggle. A
m I really that pathetic?

  “They’re gone, and they’re not going back on. Ever,” she said, determination radiated from her. “I won’t lie to you Ezra; I never have. But I will withhold facts until I think you are ready to cope with them. I didn’t lie to you; a vengeance demon rescued you after Silas tried to kill you, but that happened over a century ago. And for a lot of those years, you’ve been happy.”

  Body tense, she watched him as if he was going to explode, attack her or pass out. He wasn’t sure what he was going to do either. If she was telling the truth, he wouldn’t have fresh brands. This seemed better than Fabian’s cellar, but he’d trusted people before. That had never gone well.

  He couldn’t tear his gaze away from the glimpse of the fading sunset behind her. Manipulate, wait and don’t trust, had been his most effective strategy to avoid pain. He didn’t see a reason to change it.

  “Can... can I go outside?”

  He wouldn’t have been surprised if she laughed, screamed or grew fangs and tried to rip his throat out. He had no idea what made fae tick; what they fed on. That she pressed her lips together as if trying to force back tears only added to the unreal ambiance.

  “I understand that all this must be strange, but you’ve only just woken up; you’ve been unconscious for several days. Maybe in the morning we could...”

  Freedom seemed so very near, but also impossibly far. Seeing out of a window, knowing night crept over the world was fantastic, but it wasn’t enough. Who knew what tomorrow would bring? If he didn’t do it now, he might never see the sky with nothing in between again.

  She gave him another gentle, understanding smile.

  “I’ll get someone to help. If you throw a wobbly, there’s no way I’ll be able to hold you up,” she said and left the room. The glimpse of the corridor revealed wooden flooring.

  Ezra stiffened as a huge, hirsute man followed Pixie back into the room a few seconds later. Like with Pixie, familiarity tickled at the edge of his consciousness. Had this huge beast of a man fucked him at some point? Whatever he was, Ezra knew he wasn’t human, a vampire or an incubus.