He turned a corner and came to a stop in the doorway of a small, round chamber. The walls were white and as smooth as polished marble. On the floor at the center of the room was a circular mosaic depicting the gods and goddesses of the four elements—fire, wind, earth, water.
Four figures intertwined. The god of earth was at the top of the circle, north, and he bore a green seedling in his palms.
The goddess of wind was to the east, her red hair flowing in a breeze and a bird perched on her shoulder.
At the base of the circle, south, was the god of fire. He held both hands up to either side of him, a flame in each palm.
And then on the west side of the circle was the likeness of the goddess of water, who tipped her head back as rain fell upon her face. Belisma, his mother.
Aedan sucked in his breath and stepped into the center of the mosaic. Immediately, sensations of cool earth beneath his feet warred with sudden heat warming his legs. A breeze raised his hair from his shoulders and flattened his tunic to his body. It felt as if the welcome caress of water wrapped around him.
His skin tingled as he stared at the smooth, white wall. He forced himself to breathe as he waited for his future to be shown to him.
For a moment, nothing. Then the entire room vanished.
He stood on a sandy beach looking out at the ocean. Sunshine warmed his body—a strange sensation. He was an Incubus, never allowed in the sunlight, always relegated to the dark.
Annwn. I must be in the afterlife where my kind go if the gods and goddesses are pleased.
The tightness in his throat increased and his heart pounded in time with the waves against the sand. Of course he would be sent to a place near water. But this…he had not expected such beauty, such vastness.
A cry from a sea bird mingled with the roar of the ocean. The scent of salt was heavy enough that he even tasted it on his tongue. To either side of him grew thick green foliage that hugged the small cove.
For the first time in all his centuries of being, he felt alive and free. Free of the constraints of serving the gods and goddesses, and alive with possibilities.
In one moment, he felt joy.
In the next, terror.
Light and joy vanished.
Aedan shouted as he was enveloped in flame, the pain so deep and constant it was as if the flesh was charred from his bones. Bursts of fire lit the darkness while bubbling pools of lava lapped at his feet like the ocean waves had when he had stood on the shore.
With every splash of lava against his ankles and calves, Aedan wanted to cry out. But he ground his teeth and held it in as he searched for some way out of this version of the human hell—
The Realm of the Dead.
Sweat rolled down his face and arms but quickly dried in the searing heat. Shrieks, cries, and sobs of other beings in the realm echoed from sharp and sheer volcanic rock. He could make out figures now. Men, women. No doubt some he had sent here himself.
Dear gods and goddesses.
A wave of heat slammed into him, forcing him to drop to his knees in a lava pool. Aedan gave another shout.
Everything vanished.
He was in the Chamber of Futures again, but on his knees.
Aedan’s breathing came hard and fast and in his mind’s eye he could still see the flames and the tortured souls. His tunic was now damp with his sweat and clung to his body.
When the beating of his heart slowed and his breathing calmed, he stood and straightened to his full height.
His choices had been laid out before him.
Annwn, or the Realm of the Dead.
His choice.
Robbing Ericka Roberts of her soul was the key.
Aedan clenched his fists at his sides and strode from the chamber, nearly running into Jett and Kyne when he entered the Hall of the Lost.
Without speaking to either of them, he turned and headed away from the pair who remained silent.
He needed…he needed his quarters. The stone, the water. He needed to think.
When he reached his quarters, he slammed the door, raked his fingers through his hair again, and looked up at the starry sky. “Gods and goddesses, what is happening?”
A sigh and a breeze whirled through his chamber and he turned to face the direction it came from. Like the reflection of water on a pond, his mother, Belisma, appeared before him along with her scent of fresh water and moss. The goddess of water was as beautiful as a crystal waterfall tumbling into the River of Life.
Surprise sent a jolt down his spine that Belisma had answered his cry. He knelt before the blond, golden-eyed goddess, and kept his head lowered.
“Rise, Aedan of the Incubae.” Her voice even sounded like water trickling over rocks.
When his eyes met hers, the beautiful goddess did not smile. “This has never been a battle for the human’s soul, my son. It is a battle for yours.”
Aedan’s mouth wouldn’t open as he stared at the water goddess. Before he had a chance for her response to register and to ask her what in the Underworlds she meant, Belisma wavered like the ripples from a stone tossed in a pond, and then she was gone.
“What the fuck?” This time he scrubbed both hands through his hair. “What the fuck did she mean, my soul?”
He was Incubae. He was a creation of the gods and goddesses. He didn’t have a soul.
He had heard stories in childhood, of demons granted reprieve from their soulless state, usually at the whim of some god—but he had never known that to happen in modern times.
Aedan shook his head and stared around his room. It was no surprise Belisma had been the one to answer his cry since she was his mother. But why the cryptic message?
My soul?
He stalked from one end of his large chamber to the other. The sound of the waterfall in the corner made a rushing sound like the blood in his ears.
It was well past his time of resting before he could lie down and attempt sleep.
Utterly exhausted, Ericka rolled out of bed, got to her feet, and stretched. Cool morning air drifted from the window over her bare skin.
Vivid images flashed through Ericka’s mind and crashed down on her. Her knees gave out and the bedsprings creaked as she dropped onto the bed. She blinked and rubbed her eyes with her fingertips. The dream rushed toward her—only it didn’t feel like a dream.
It felt like a memory.
Everything tumbled through her at once. She sucked in a deep breath and gripped her sheets in her fists.
Aedan. His name was Aedan. With every fiber of her being she knew he was real, a dream lover brought to life. He’d truly been coming to her every night.
But he’d done it again. He’d brought her to the peak and hadn’t let her climax.
She ground her teeth and clenched her fists tighter.
Bastard.
Would he come back tonight? If he did, she’d give him a piece of her mind. And she’d let him have it with her fists, this time. Or a well-placed knee to the balls.
Until last night she hadn’t thought he was real. Not truly. Well, maybe. He’d been a phantom, there but not there.
But he’s oh-so-real.
Ericka rubbed her temples with the heels of her palms. He was real. Real. But where did he come from? What about the disappearing act? Was she going crazy?
She pushed to her feet even though her legs trembled. She headed for the shower and wondered how the hell she was going to get any writing done today.
With a sigh, Ericka plopped on the bright patchwork couch in her living room, a heavy book in her lap. The book contained extensive accounts of people who believed they had been visited by Incubae or Succubae.
It was twilight, so she flicked on the antique lamp on the end table beside the couch. As the day had passed, Ericka felt like she was caught in a dream. Everything was so surreal, as if she was experiencing life outside her body. No matter what she tried, her mind wouldn’t stray from last night, and every other night Aedan had come to her.