Page 19 of Knox
"There has to be another way," Adrian said, unable to meet the demon’s gaze.
Knox sighed, a sound laced with frustration. "There’s no ambient magic in this world, not enough for me to draw on. I need… a source." He hesitated, then took a step closer to Adrian, his gaze burning into him. "You would make an excellent meal, but I’ve already promised you that I’m not touching you, so what else would you have me do?"
Adrian’s mind short-circuited. He could feel heat creeping up his neck, his ears burning with a mortification he hadn’t experienced since that time in high school when he’d accidentally called his English teacher "Mom."
He wanted to tell Knox that he didn’t need to go to a brothel, for heaven’s sake, but the incubus was right. If Adrian didn’t want to become a battery of sexual energy for Knox, he would have to find another way to regain his magic.
Why, though?
Whycouldn’tAdrian let Knox draw power from him?
He swallowed hard. He could do it right now. Take Knox to a hotel room, have mind-blowing sex, save the world.
Easy, right?
Except that Knox would want things that Adrian didn’t… couldn’t…
He’d see just how messed up Adrian was.
This wasn’t a story or a dream, after all. This was cold hard reality, and in reality, Adrian was a really lousy fuck.
"I, um… there’s…" Adrian cleared his throat.
Evelyn chose that moment to interject. "Is it a discreet establishment that you’re looking for? Am I understanding this right?"
"Grandma, no!" Adrian hissed.
Knox, however, was all ears. "Discreet establishment?" he repeated. "Is that what you call them in this realm?"
"Well," Evelyn said, pulling a notepad and pen from a chest of drawers with a practicality that made Adrian want to groan, "There’s that place just a few blocks from here. I walk by there on my way to the library sometimes." She began to sketch a map on the notepad.
Adrian stared at her, his mouth agape. Was she seriously giving a demon directions to a brothel like it was nothing? "Grandma, I don’t think?—"
"Oh, hush, dear," Evelyn interrupted, waving a dismissive hand. "We’re all old enough to know that sex is perfectly natural." She tore the map from the notepad, folded it neatly, and handed it to Knox. "Here you go."
Knox accepted the map with a solemn nod, studying the lines and arrows as if they held the secrets to ancient magic. "Evelyn,"he said, his voice tinged with a respect that only amplified Adrian’s sense of surreal absurdity, "you are a wise and resourceful woman. I am in your debt. If this works, this whole world is in your debt."
Adrian wanted to disappear. He wanted to dissolve into the beige carpet and become one with the mundane, utterly non-magical décor of his grandmother’s apartment.
"Just one piece of advice, young man," Evelyn added, her voice taking on a no-nonsense tone that Adrian knew well. "Don’t let them take all your money. And always, always, use protection. You never know what you might encounter in those establishments."
Knox seemed to take her advice seriously. "I will keep that in mind." He nodded, looked once more at the map, and then walked out the door—barefoot and still wearing those damn pajamas.
Adrian stared after him.
How was any of this happening?
Evelyn shot Adrian a look. "What are you waiting for?" she asked. "Are you just going to let him go like that?"
Her words shook Adrian out of his stupor. Without another thought, he put on his shoes and ran after the incubus.
Chapter
Six
Adrian darted out of the apartment, heart pounding, the crisp morning air wrapping around him like a cold shroud. Sadly it wasn’t enough to snap him out of this nightmare he was having—because it had to be a nightmare.
Any moment now, he would wake up, and Knox would be gone, and he’d be left with nothing but a broken skylight and a lifetime of therapy bills.
