Page 61 of Incubus

“Oh, master, what happened?” The hand-wringing began immediately.

“Are the girls in?” I jumped out and ran around to Roth’s side of the car.

“No, they went out for the evening.”

Damnit.I would have welcomed Anne and Corinne’s help. But my doctoring skills would have to do.

“Help me get him upstairs. We need to get him cleaned up to get a better look at his injuries.” The gashes that marred his handsome face were obvious, but blood had soaked through his ripped shirt and trousers, making it impossible to know where he was hurt and how badly.

The trip up the stairs was slow going. Roth was so tall and muscular that even with Bart under one arm and me under the other, we struggled beneath his weight. Roth tried to help, but I locked my arm around his waist. “Just relax. We’ve got you.”

I directed him toward the bathroom, eventually sitting him precariously on the edge of his tub. “Do you want to hold or strip?”

“I beg your pardon, madam?” Bart looked as if I’d just slapped him with dainty lady gloves.

“This is no time to be shy. I need these clothes off him, now.”

“Ah, the magic words.” Roth’s words slurred and the wounds on his face still hadn’t closed.

“I ah, well…” Bart stammered.

“Are you going to help me or not?” I barked as Roth’s head lolled onto my shoulder.

“Yes, yes of course.” Bart knelt and pulled off Roth’s shoes while I held him steady against me. After a few moments of Bart wrangling with Roth’s clothes, he was stripped bare. The wounds were deep, some bites showing sinew and bone through the flesh.

“Let’s get him into the bath. It’ll be the fastest way to clean all the wounds.” I reached over and started the water, then directed Bart to help me slide Roth down into the tub, leaving a bloody streak wherever his battered body touched the marble. A pink bloom spread into the clear water, beautiful yet horrific. Roth’s eyes were open, but glassy — alarmingly so.

Once Roth was situated, I ordered Bart to go to the nearest white witch and get whatever herbs or potions she could offer.

Before leaving, Bart hesitated at the door and cleared his throat.

“What is it?”

“If I may say, madam.” His cheeks were practically scarlet. “I-I-I wanted to say that there is one way he could regain his strength.” He stared out the bathroom door toward Roth’s bed, not looking at me but clearly giving away what he meant. “I couldn’t bear it, you see, if he-he…” Tears began to pool in Bart’s eyes as he trained his earnest gaze on me. “He’s, as you know, an incubus. So, if one were to-to-to…”

“I follow. Now, go.” I waved him away. I didn’t want to admit it, but I’d thought of it while we were in the car. I gave Roth a look, curious if he’d been listening. “I could, you know.”

“That won’t be necessary.” His eyes remained closed, his voice weak.

A slow trickle of blood made its way from a cut at his temple, dripping into the water and sounding like a gunshot in the quiet room. He was losing too much blood, and his healing powers were flagging.

“Why aren’t you healing?”

“Doesn’t matter.”

“It does matter! What’s wrong with you?” I leaned over the tub, staring at his pale face.

His breathing became labored as he struggled to answer. I softened my tone and held his wounded face in my hands. “Tell me.”

“That night when I brought you here. You thought I’d, I’d been with Corinne. I wasn’t. I couldn’t, not with you here. Not with you—”

A cold slice of knowledge slid into my heart like an ice shard. “When? When was the last time?”

“I haven’t allowed the incubus to feed since…” He trailed off.

“Since when?”

Roth was silent, his head lolling to the side. He hasn’t been with anyone else since we met. I couldn’t believe it—after all the pain the incubus had caused him the last time he’d tried to deny it. And now he was doing it again—for me. He wasn’t what I’d expected or what I’d ever thought I wanted. But here he was, and he needed me. If I didn’t help him, he could die.

I panicked, surprised and afraid at how powerfully the thought of Roth dying affected me. So many emotions came rushing over me, the fear that I’d been pushing away now eating me up, forcing me to act. Before I even knew what I’d done, I stripped myself and jumped into the water, not caring about the blood. I only cared about saving him. I would do anything I had to do to keep him with me. Anything.

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