Page 39 of Insidious Monsters
He didn’t question, vanishing before my eyes. One of Margie’s minions flew back in the air and hit the ground.
“You can’t take us all out,” Margie said. “Not even with his ability.”
“I know, that’s why I’m calling in backup.” I took a deep breath and ripped open a hole into the spirit realm.
eleven
AUGUST
Lothos led us through Mystic Pleasures and into the lift, which expanded to admit us all. He pressed his palm to the panel, and when the doors opened, we were on the threshold to his quarters. He stepped through, but when I tried to follow, Telarion wrapped his arm around my waist to hold me back.
“Not this time,” he said. “I know how this scenario plays out.”
Lothos sighed and waved his arm. “Come in.Bothof you.”
Telarion tucked me behind him and pushed forward, pulling me with him once he was over the threshold.
He locked gazes with Lothos. “You’re either a fool or desperate.”
“Or maybe I trust the person who lies beneath the monster,” Lothos said.
This was the reason we were friends.
Telarion made a dismissive sound, but I didn’t miss the way his shoulders relaxed, a sign he’d lowered his guard.
But I wasn’t here to study incubus and aberrant body language. We had a real issue and it needed solving. Fast.
Lothos vanished into his bedroom. I considered following but that might set Telarion off, because the last time he’d come here, I’d been in the bedroom with Lothos feeding off the sexual energy he’d collected for me. Perfectly innocent, of course, but Telarion hadn’t known that. He’d sensed my desire, my carnal hunger, and it had drawn him to me to find me, his rift walker, his possession, with another male. Those phrases no longer made me want to tear my hair out. How things had changed.
So yeah, following Lothos into the bedroom was a huge no. I held my ground until Lothos returned. He’d pulled on a shirt made of such gauzy material he might as well have not bothered.
“Lothos, what the hell is going on? I know Barathos is a prince, but how can he have so much power here?”
“In other words, why can’t we kill him?” Telarion asked.
I made a meh face. “Yeah, basically that.”
Lothos dragged a hand down his face, then reached up to gather his hair, twisting it into a bun on top of his head. “It’s a long story tied up in resources, politics, and greed. Barathos’s kingdom is rich in certain elements that the city desires, and so they let him feed with impunity when here. Back in Faerie, Barathos’s life force is tied to his kingdom, just like every crown prince before him—a feature put into place to stop war and assassinations. No one wants to take over a dead kingdom.” A dark look crossed his features.
He was holding back. “What aren’t you telling us?”
“It doesn’t matter. It isn’t related to our situation here. All you need to know is that you can’t kill him. People depend on him.”
“People should not be forced to depend on an asshole.”
“Believe me, I know.” Lothos sighed. “Problem is, Barathos has a habit of getting fixated with things, especially things he can’t have. Forbidden things. It probably comes from having people fall at his feet. You, August, are a challenge, and there is nothing Barathos likes more than a challenge.”
“I don’t care about his psychological issues, I want to know how we can get rid of him. He thinks we have a contract. We don’t.”
“We don’t. Not yet.”
Was he seriously considering making me his nova prima? I’d done my research on those contracts, basically picking Quentin’s and Uncle Fred’s brains, and what I’d learned did not sit right with me. According to them, a nova prima was a contract between a high-born incubus and a suitable individual where the individual became the incubus’s property. It was a test to see if the individual was a suitable life-mate for the incubus; if not, then the incubus released the person.
A nova prima was a mystical contract, a binding one that only the incubus could break, and as much as I trusted and cared about Lothos, I wasn’t willing to bind myself to him. I had enough of that to worry about with Telarion.
I crossed my arms. “I’m not signing a nova prima with you.”
“It’s the only thing that can keep you safe,” Lothos said.
