“Who are you?” I asked, pushing the man away.
The man clucked his tongue. “That information comes at a price.” His gaze slid down my chest, lingering on the exposed cleavage the low cut dress displayed. Wait, when did I put on a dress?
The disorientation I’d felt started to evaporate. “This is a dream,” I said. “And you must be an incubus.”
The seductive glint in his eyes hardened to something more wicked. I needed to get out of here now.
Wake up, I commanded myself. Nothing. I couldn’t do it this time.
I closed my eyes, and tried again. Wake up.
My eyelids lifted and the incubus stared back at me, his gaze thinning. “What are you doing?” He took one ominous step forward, and I backed up.
Understanding flittered over his face. “You are trying to leave.” His muscles tensed and his weight shifted. I didn’t wait to see what else would happen. I turned and ran blindly . . . right into the wall.
My body jolted and I woke up. My eyes darted around my dorm room. The demon hadn’t made it along with me.
I breathed out a sigh of relief and sank back down into my bed. Next to me, Oliver slept peacefully and Leanne fitfully. Both, however, were unaware that I had woken up.
I chewed on my lip, reluctant to fall back asleep in case some other demon waited for me. This dream had been different, the incubus more pushy and powerful.
Either Samhain intensified the demon’s presence, or Andre’s threat had done nothing but bait them.
***
The next evening I perused some of the books in Andre’s library. Now that I knew it existed, I preferred working here to his study. Considering that he was the one who brought me to his secret room this evening, I think he shared my preference.
“What do you know about ley lines?” I asked him, glancing over my shoulder. Andre lounged against the couch in his private library watching me move over his collection.
“Why do you want to know?”
I shrugged my shoulders. “I’ve come across the term a few times and I think—well more like hope—it has something to do with our murders.”
Now I turned to Andre. His face remained carefully blank as he studied the coffee table in front of him.
He didn’t respond, so I decided to drop the other piece of information I learned. “By the way, I think you’re right that these murders might have something to do with Samhain. The murders all seem to take place near entrances to the Otherworld.” Entrances whose barriers were normally thin and would only get thinner as Samhain approached. And the holiday was only three days away.
Andre drew his gaze up from the coffee table to look at me. “Entrances?” His eyes looked through me, mulling over my words.
He stood up suddenly. “Of course—of course. You are brilliant.”
I didn’t feel very brilliant, but I’d take the compliment. My heart pounded a little quicker. “What is it?” I asked.
He focused intensely on me. “I know why the murders didn’t seem like the work of a vampire—it’s because they weren’t.” Andre ran a hand through his hair. “They were the work of a demon.”
Chapter 16
Demon. The thought had never crossed my mind because I’d never heard of a demon killing people. Scratch that, I’d never heard of a demon existing until a bunch of Don Juan’s decided to jump into my bed “Despite the signs that all the victims were scared, none of them smelled like fear, a scent that lingers on the skin even after death. That’s what was wrong with the bodies, I hadn’t realized it until now.”
“I’m not following you at all.”
“Demons feed off of fear, so the smell wouldn’t be present.” Oh. Ew.
“What about the religious symbols?” I asked.
Andre paused. “If you position both the cross and the pentagram upside-down, they become Satanic symbols. The swastika goes without explanation.” This whole time we’d assumed they were holy symbols, when in reality they were intended as signs of the devil.
Andre paced across the room. “The crime scenes didn’t smell of sulfur—which they should’ve if a demon was responsible for the attacks—but if the crimes were committed along ley lines, the smell could be hidden—either intentionally or unintentionally.”
I was officially out of my element. “Wait, the crimes were on ley lines?” I could feel a headache blossoming. “I thought they took place near entrances to the Otherworld.”
“They took place along both.” His eyes shone brightly.
I still wasn’t following completely, but I ran with the theory. “So a demon killed all those victims?”