abdominal laceration.
"It’s not that deep," she murmured.
"Smith, why is Annie here?
Isn’t she out of town with her parents?"
"She was. I don’t know
what happened. One minute I was in my study, and the next, that boy appeared,
holding her. I have no idea what went on."
Lucien’s head shot up. His
eyes widened. Josiah. He’d been on vacation with Annie and her parents in
Virginia. How on earth had they appeared here, suddenly? Josiah didn’t
know how to relocate, did he? Was he even capable of it?
And if he’d appeared suddenly,
clutching a wounded and bleeding Annie, something terrible must have happened!
Lucien didn’t waste time
running through the compound. He simply relocated to Mr. Smith’s study.
At first, the room appeared empty.
No one was sitting in the leather recliner by the window, or the blue rolling
chair at the scarred mahogany desk. He was about to leave when a small sound
captured his attention.
He followed the quiet sob to the
corner, where his fourteen-year-old son was huddled, arms around his knees,
tears streaming down his face. He wasn’t just crying, he could barely
breathe with the force of his sobs as he slowly rocked back and forth.
"Josiah?"
The boy looked up. Blood was smeared
on his face.
"Father!" He leaped from
his curled up position and threw himself against Lucien’s chest. Lucien
embraced him.
"What happened, son? Are you
hurt? What happened to Annie?"
"They came. In the night.
Don’t know why. Killed... oh God... killed them all."
Lucien’s alarm grew. He
grasped Josiah’s arms in his hands and gently set him back a bit, looking
into his eyes. "Who was killed?"
"Everyone! Annie’s mom
and dad, Jake. The succubae... they came."
A sensation of dread flared in the
pit of Lucien’s stomach. "Did they hurt you?"
Josiah shook his head.
"We..." he gasped. Sobbed again. "We were outside. Annie and
I. We were looking at con... con... at the stars. Heard a sound... ran
inside... There were four of them. They were... oh God. Their claws... they
were laughing... ‘one less cleric and his spawn,’ they said.... I
was frozen..." He broke into more shattered sobs. This time it took
several minutes for him to calm down enough to speak. "Annie rushed them,
and they cut her up. Knocked her down. They... I... I don’t know what
happened then. I just... I just ran after her. Pushed one away. Grabbed her. I
heard one say, ‘demon eyes!’ Then I was here."
"Oh no!" Lucien hugged
his son tight again.
"Is Annie okay?"
"Yes, son. She’s okay.
The belly wound isn’t that bad, and the others are fixable. You saved
her, Josiah."
Josiah, it was clear, had no
interest in being congratulated. He let go of his attempts to speak and just
dissolved into hysterics. And rightly so. He’d just seen a whole family
murdered. And now they had a worse problem. Those succubae knew there was a boy
with demon eyes somewhere out there in the world. Josiah would not be a secret
for much longer.
***
Clash! Clang!
Scrape! The
sound of sword on sword rang through the courtyard. Josiah met Peter’s
thrust with his sword, and then turned rapidly, sliding his blade out from
underneath before the brute strength of his eighteen-year-old opponent could
crush him down. It had taken years, but Josiah had finally accepted he had
to use stealth and dexterity against Peter. Though at sixteen, he had finally
grown, and was experiencing puberty, he was still small for his age, much
slighter than the other boys. But once he made peace with his size, he’d
found ways to use it to his advantage. At least he’d finally caught up
with Annie, who apparently was done growing. As he whirled to avoid another
slash with the blunted practice sword, he caught sight of her, standing by the
wall, watching.
She’d grown tall and beautiful
in the last three years. So beautiful it hurt to look at her. Her light brown
hair bounced in a nimbus of curls around her shoulders. Her brown eyes sparkled
in the light, as
"It’s not that deep," she murmured.
"Smith, why is Annie here?
Isn’t she out of town with her parents?"
"She was. I don’t know
what happened. One minute I was in my study, and the next, that boy appeared,
holding her. I have no idea what went on."
Lucien’s head shot up. His
eyes widened. Josiah. He’d been on vacation with Annie and her parents in
Virginia. How on earth had they appeared here, suddenly? Josiah didn’t
know how to relocate, did he? Was he even capable of it?
And if he’d appeared suddenly,
clutching a wounded and bleeding Annie, something terrible must have happened!
Lucien didn’t waste time
running through the compound. He simply relocated to Mr. Smith’s study.
At first, the room appeared empty.
No one was sitting in the leather recliner by the window, or the blue rolling
chair at the scarred mahogany desk. He was about to leave when a small sound
captured his attention.
He followed the quiet sob to the
corner, where his fourteen-year-old son was huddled, arms around his knees,
tears streaming down his face. He wasn’t just crying, he could barely
breathe with the force of his sobs as he slowly rocked back and forth.
"Josiah?"
The boy looked up. Blood was smeared
on his face.
"Father!" He leaped from
his curled up position and threw himself against Lucien’s chest. Lucien
embraced him.
"What happened, son? Are you
hurt? What happened to Annie?"
"They came. In the night.
Don’t know why. Killed... oh God... killed them all."
Lucien’s alarm grew. He
grasped Josiah’s arms in his hands and gently set him back a bit, looking
into his eyes. "Who was killed?"
"Everyone! Annie’s mom
and dad, Jake. The succubae... they came."
A sensation of dread flared in the
pit of Lucien’s stomach. "Did they hurt you?"
Josiah shook his head.
"We..." he gasped. Sobbed again. "We were outside. Annie and
I. We were looking at con... con... at the stars. Heard a sound... ran
inside... There were four of them. They were... oh God. Their claws... they
were laughing... ‘one less cleric and his spawn,’ they said.... I
was frozen..." He broke into more shattered sobs. This time it took
several minutes for him to calm down enough to speak. "Annie rushed them,
and they cut her up. Knocked her down. They... I... I don’t know what
happened then. I just... I just ran after her. Pushed one away. Grabbed her. I
heard one say, ‘demon eyes!’ Then I was here."
"Oh no!" Lucien hugged
his son tight again.
"Is Annie okay?"
"Yes, son. She’s okay.
The belly wound isn’t that bad, and the others are fixable. You saved
her, Josiah."
Josiah, it was clear, had no
interest in being congratulated. He let go of his attempts to speak and just
dissolved into hysterics. And rightly so. He’d just seen a whole family
murdered. And now they had a worse problem. Those succubae knew there was a boy
with demon eyes somewhere out there in the world. Josiah would not be a secret
for much longer.
***
Clash! Clang!
Scrape! The
sound of sword on sword rang through the courtyard. Josiah met Peter’s
thrust with his sword, and then turned rapidly, sliding his blade out from
underneath before the brute strength of his eighteen-year-old opponent could
crush him down. It had taken years, but Josiah had finally accepted he had
to use stealth and dexterity against Peter. Though at sixteen, he had finally
grown, and was experiencing puberty, he was still small for his age, much
slighter than the other boys. But once he made peace with his size, he’d
found ways to use it to his advantage. At least he’d finally caught up
with Annie, who apparently was done growing. As he whirled to avoid another
slash with the blunted practice sword, he caught sight of her, standing by the
wall, watching.
She’d grown tall and beautiful
in the last three years. So beautiful it hurt to look at her. Her light brown
hair bounced in a nimbus of curls around her shoulders. Her brown eyes sparkled
in the light, as
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