Page 58 of Incubus with Benefits
Bitch had my purse in her hands. Luckily, that thing was a decoy with a shitty old phone and a bunch of candy wrappers. Instead of her Darlington University hoodie, she and everyone else now wore long ceremonial robes.
“What do you want from me?” I demanded, my voice coming out sharper and steadier than I thought possible with the nerves eating away at my chest.
The older man stepped forward, eyes gleaming with a look that felt too close to insanity. “We want your help,” he said. “Will you join our ranks and help lift the containment on the Doorway to Heaven?”
Doorway to Heaven? What in the crazy suicide cult leader was going on here?
I blinked. “You mean the portal that eats wizards?”
The way he smiled had my stomach twisting in knots. “She’s not a monster. She’s just misunderstood. The portal is her gift to us: a key to ascension. And if you join us now, you will not be left behind.”
“And if I don’t?”
He shrugged. “You’ll go in with the rest of them. And we’ll figure out how to use your magic to release our beloved Doorway ourselves.”
He must mean the other women. I peered around the warehouse, keeping my eyes on the prize. I was here to find the women, not to parley with crazy cult leaders.
“You’re insane,” I said flatly. “That portal swallowed an entire intersection and dozens of men. I’m not helping you unleash that thing.”
“No matter,” he said calmly. “We didn’t expect you to agree.” He turned to one of the men. “Toss her in with the others.”
The blindfold went on again, and the next time it came off I was being shoved into a musty room. There was a single naked light bulb at the center and several mattresses on the floor. Three pairs of dull-looking eyes looked back at me. I recognized the two from the club footage.
The asshole manhandling me patted me down, taking everything from my pockets. He took my shoes. He even took the pair of charmed bobby pins in my hair. Damn it! Those were supposed to pinpoint my location. Luckily for me, despite his way-too-thorough pat down on my breasts, he didnotfind the tiny piece of spelled paper tucked into the padding pocket of my bra.
He did, however, take the bracelet from my wrist.
As he held it up, Marissa’s eyes went wide.
“Don’t bother casting any spells,” the guy warned, tucking the gold bracelet into his pocket. “This is a no-witchcraft room.” He walked out, slamming the door shut behind him.
Marissa was already there, standing in front of me.
“Before you ask,” I said, “yes, that was your bracelet. I found it behind the portal site. I’m sorry I lost it again.”
She blinked. “You sound weirdly okay with being here.”
I shrugged. “Kind of. I purposely allowed myself to be taken in order to find the missing witches.”
“And now you’re stuck here,” she said, voice flat. “Shit out of luck like the rest of us.”
“Maybe,” I said. “But I’m glad I found you. Someone had to try.”
Her expression softened. “Thank you.”
“Nathan says hi, by the way,” I added. “He’s been looking for you.”
Her eyes lit up. “He has?”
“Yeah. Your family tried to pin your disappearance on him. Hired a private investigator and everything. They ended up arresting Julian instead.”
She paled. “Oh no. Julian’s a decent guy.”
“He’s more than decent,” I said. “Which is why we need to prove he’s innocent.”
“I went to Delerium that day to talk to Nathan, but chickened out. I shouldn’t have caved to my family’s demands. So what if they didn’t like that he already has a kid and isn’t rich. Molly is the cutest, and I don’t care about money. He’d hard working and he loves me.” Tears welled up in her eyes.
“You can tell him that when we get you out.”
