Zoey Rogue

chapter Ten: Zoey Doomed



Zoey didn’t remember the last time she slept so well. She awoke refreshed, her blood settled for the first time ever. She was alone in the California king-sized bed in an airy bedroom with heavy furniture in dark woods and light, earth-tone décor. It was a quiet, peaceful bedroom with plenty of light.

The sheets smelled of toasted vanilla and sex, a combination that made her blood heat with desire. Her face grew hot as the memory of last night returned. She lost count of how many times Declan made her come, but he had only let himself climax once, the last time they made love. She didn’t expect his restraint or gentleness or patience.

She didn’t expect that she would openly give anyone else such access to her body and sex magic. Embarrassed and thrilled, she wasn’t going to be able to see him ever again, not if the mere thought of him made her relive the vulnerability and yearning.

Her purse was on the dresser. She pushed herself up, suddenly remembering she’d told Vikki she’d meet her at IHOP last night. Halfway to the dresser, she stopped.

What the hell did she tell her best friend about this? Worse - how did she get home?

Her clothes were nowhere in sight. Irritated, Zoey saw the note on her purse. It was written on heavy, expensive card stock, the writing neat and masculine.

Z –

See you soon.

– D

“Arrogant son of a bitch,” she muttered. It dawned on her she’d just had a one night stand with an Incubus. A sexy Incubus that did things to her that made her blush and hope she never ran into him again.

God, he felt so good. She shuddered. She understood now why girls turned dazed and dreamy when discussing the nights they spent with an Incubus. Her body trembled with the memory and the sudden yearning to be his again.

She had to get out of there. The whole bedroom smelled of his dark vanilla essence, a scent that made her ravenous. Whether it was some sort of Incubus humor to leave her without clothes or whether he’d forgotten, she found herself rifling through his drawers for a t-shirt and pajama pants. They were silk and slid along her skin the same way his hands had, leaving her aroused.

“Goddamn it!”

Zoey snatched her purse and left the penthouse with a quick look around. It was huge, expensive and overlooking the park. She crossed her arms as she joined another woman dressed for a workout in the elevator and scrolled through her messages. Vikki had texted half a dozen times in panic then stopped around three in the morning.

Ah, I get it. Call me in the morning.

Get what? Zoey wanted to strangle her friend but felt way too … satisfied and calm. The Professor hadn’t texted or called at all. Of the two, which was more likely to believe her lie about a one night stand with some jock she met at the bar?

“The one who can’t read my mind,” she mumbled, stepping off the elevator.

Zoey called her best friend and stopped at the windows looking out onto the street. It was cold and rainy. She had no shoes and barely any clothes on. The chill from the windows made her shiver. She waited for Vikki to pick up.

“It’s about time!” Vikki answered cheerfully on the fourth ring.

“I need a ride.”

“Where are you?”

Zoey’s gaze settled on the carved pewter letters across the guard’s stand in the lobby. She read the address to Vikki. There was a pause. Zoey glanced down at the phone, wondering if she’d lost signal.

“Okay.” There was laughter in Vikki’s voice. “Be there in five.”

Zoey hung up, not understanding her friend’s amusement. She texted the Professor next.

I know you didn’t bother asking, but I’m fine.

She sent it, knowing it’d make him chuckle. He loved her fire. She really wished, if this whole soul-mate thing was real, that he was the one she ended up with. Maybe all he needed was some mind-blowing sex to grow younger. He’d never had a woman over, and didn’t they need sex to stay young and strong? He was still sexy, a seasoned Incubus with a warm laugh and sparkling eyes.

And then there was Declan: virulent, passionate, with a libido that blew her away and left her smelling of cookie-covered love.

She shook her head and glared at her clothes. They smelled of him as much as she did. The Professor texted back a smiley face then a second message.

I know you are. You are healed?

Zoey groaned. She hadn’t thought about their connection, and that he’d know she was near-dead in an alley last night then suddenly not.

Someone honked. She looked up, recognizing Vikki’s car blocking traffic. Zoey pushed the door open to the sidewalk, wincing at how cold the puddles of water were on her feet. She darted to the car and dropped into the front seat.

“So freaking cold!” she complained. “Where the hell is spring? Isn’t it like, April?”

“I figured you’d need these.” Vikki dropped a backpack on Zoey’s lap.

“What is it?”

“You’ll see.”

Zoey unzipped it to find jeans, a sweater, shoes and socks within its depths. Startled, she looked at Vikki’s profile as the girl focused on pulling into traffic. Vikki was grinning.

“I think they think that if you don’t have clothes, you won’t leave,” she said.

“Whatever,” Zoey said. She focused on changing out of the clothes that smelled too much of him, pausing when her body flared with desire at the scent on the balled up t-shirt.

“Nice night?” Vikki asked casually.

Face hot, Zoey shoved the t-shirt in the bag along with the pajama pants and zipped them closed with relish.

“The one time I want to keep a secret, you and the Professor already know. It’s so not fair!” she snapped at last. “What could possibly have given me away?”

“The address.”

“What?”

“It’s where all the Incubatti live, even their Enforcers and Council members.”

“No way. They’re on some island in the Pacific,” Zoey replied.

“Liam told me. It’s also where Liam has an apartment. The whole building is nothing but an Incubus bachelor pad.”

“This is insane. I just had a one night stand with some guy, not an Incubus,” Zoey said. She pulled free her phone to text the Professor.

“As long as that’s all it was,” Vikki said.

“Hmmm?” Zoey asked, typing, I have a ride home. Breakfast?

“… strike one.”

“Wait, what?”

“Omigod, Zoey, how many did you kill last night?” Vikki asked suddenly, the competitive flare in her eyes. “We were ambushed. I was so f*cking happy, because I thought I’d be able to beat you.”

“Me, too,” Zoey said, laughing. “Except I got my ass kicked by a Cambion. I took out …” she paused to count. “Thirty? Maybe thirty five.”

“Bam!” Vikki slapped the steering wheel. “Forty seven!”

“No way!”

“I’m in the lead again!”

“Only by three! I am so going out tonight,” Zoey vowed. “Some Cambion threw a knife at me while I was fighting. Hit my liver. Almost died. It wasn’t as bad as I thought it’d be, but I want to find him and kill him.”

“Thank god that non-Incubus guy you slept with was able to fix you up,” Vikki said innocently.

“Fine. So he was an Incubus. Just a one-night stand,” Zoey said. At least, she hoped it was. He’d told her otherwise, but she wasn’t going to let the arrogant creature tell her what to do.

They neared the campus, and Vikki’s smile faded, her eyes stormy.

“What’s wrong?” Zoey asked.

“I go before the Enforcers today.”

“Oh, god.”

“Liam says …” Vikki swallowed hard. “Well, I guess they can’t read my mind, because I’m bound to him. He said to stick to my story. They’ll know I’m bound to an Incubus, but not to whom. They said they won’t bother me, because I’m with one of their kind.”

“What’s your story?”

Vikki gave her a tight smile.

“You’re going to lie to them,” Zoey whispered. “Vikki … how much do you trust what Liam says? I mean, he’s Incubatti.”

“I know. I can’t explain it, but whatever this soul-mate bond is, there’s no hiding anything. Sometimes I feel trapped. He knows my thoughts before I do. Dimitri can, too, but Zoey…” she hesitated. “I can feel Liam’s, too. It freaks me out, and he’s teaching me how to listen.”

Zoey rubbed her chest absently, still feeling the tingle of the strange connection with Declan. Hopefully, it faded in a few hours.

“It sounds so lame, but I was so used to the one-way channel with Dimitri. You know what it’s like. You lie to your guardian. He reads your mind and gets pissed, then you just shrug it off,” Vikki said, illustrating her words with her hands.

“I have a bit of a different relationship with the Professor,” Zoey admitted, smiling.

“True. For everyone else, it’s like I said. I got used to that. Being able to access someone else’s mind is just … weird. I’d rather not know. I’m not a thinker. I’m a killer. It terrifies me for him to share his mind with me,” Vikki gripped and released the steering wheel as she talked. “Let me go kill things.”

“Does Liam mind that you kill Cambions?”

Vikki shrugged. “Doesn’t seem to.”

They stopped in front of the Professor’s house. Zoey turned to her friend, concerned.

“When do you go to see the Enforcers?” she asked in a hushed voice.

“Two hours.”

“You’ll call me after?”

“Totally.”

Zoey gazed at her, scared for her friend. Vikki mustered a smile. Zoey hugged her hard, breathing in her vanilla perfume.

“I never thought I’d say this, but I hope the Incubatti you’re sleeping with is right,” she said. “I’m praying for it.”

“Me, too. If they can’t figure it out, the worst they can do is suspend me and put me under watch.”

Zoey didn’t ask about the other option, where Vikki went to live with Liam and the Incubatti. She didn’t want to think about losing her friend. Releasing her reluctantly, Zoey smiled in encouragement and got out of the car.

Zoey watched her drive away, struck by another thought as she stood where she had two days before. She couldn’t go back to Eric, even if he called. She really cheated on him this time.

Stunned, she realized she hadn’t thought twice about Eric last night while in the Incubus’s arms. True, she’d made him a deal for her life. She felt some remorse, but also relief at the idea that, if Eric called, she had a reason not to go back to him.

“Come in, kiddo.”

With a snort, Zoey crossed to the Professor, who held the front door open for her. She walked into the quiet foyer, troubled.

“Care to join me for brunch?” he asked, hobbling towards the study.

“Sure.” She trailed and sat across from him at his favorite place before the hearth. The food was fresh and fragrant. Scrambled eggs, sausage and pastries, complemented by the Professor’s favorite Earl Grey steaming in the teapot.

“Someone calmed that fire finally,” he said, pouring her a cup.

Zoey flushed. The Professor was an Incubus: he knew the signs that she spent the night with one his own kind. Zoey wanted badly to hide the truth, uncertain if the Professor’s patience and tolerance of her would extend to hiding the truth about where she’d been.

“I got my ass kicked last night,” she said, face growing hotter. She rushed on. “By Cambions.”

“I understood,” he said with a trace of amusement. “Vikki’s beating you again.”

“I’ll fix that tonight, assuming ... “ she stopped and stuffed her mouth with food.

The Professor glanced up. “Dimitri and I already spoke to the Enforcers.”

Zoey choked. She pounded on her chest and downed a glass of water before wiping away tears from her eyes. The Professor was gazing at her with one eyebrow raised.

“And?” she asked, afraid of his answer.

“We expressed that there might be extenuating circumstances. The Enforcers said they’d take it into consideration. They chose not to read our minds.”

Her heart was pounding. “How much stronger than a regular Incubus is an Enforcer?” She thought of Vikki’s belief she’d be immune to their mind reading.

“They are as powerful as the Sucubatti IAB, if not more so.”

“Stronger than Olivia. Wow. But like, how strong is that?” she asked again. “If Vikki is bonded to an Incubus, can they break that?”

“That bond cannot be broken by anyone, especially if the three stages of the rite have been fulfilled.”

“Thank god,” she sighed.

“To answer your question, the Enforcers are like comparing a hurricane to a thunderstorm. Both are powerful, capable of much destruction, but a thunderstorm rarely wipes out an entire coastline.”

Zoey ate thoughtfully, worried for her friend. “I think she’s done the three steps. Will she be okay, Professor?”

“My sweet Zoey. I think she is better prepared than you to face them.” There was a note of sadness in his voice. “They’ve requested to see you at eleven.”

She froze.

“I did my best to dissuade them. They are talking to her at ten. If they are satisfied, they may not need you.”

Panicking, Zoey rose. The Professor released his magic to calm her. It had little effect.

“I can’t go in there!” she exclaimed. “I know everything that no one else will tell them!”

“Only if they read your mind, Zoey. If you do as we did and are calm and answer their questions without suspicion, they will have no need to tell Olivia anything negative about you.”

She looked at him pointedly. They both knew calm had never been her strong suit. He took a sip of an amber liquid that wasn’t apple juice. Her gaze lingered. She’d never seen the Professor drink. He was worried.

“You have one thing going for you,” he said, setting it down. He motioned for her to sit. “Whoever helped you last night initiated the bond rite.”

“What does that mean?” she asked, seated again.

“It means you’ve met one of the three requirements to be bound to your soul-mate.”

Her blood ran cold. Speechless, she stared at the Professor.

“I felt the shift,” he explained. “I can no longer read your mind. The bond will be much stronger than ours was. That might keep the Incubus Enforcers out of your mind.”

“It won’t help me with the IAB!”

“Vikki is in a much better position, having met all three requirements for a full bond. She can withstand anyone. Yours will be partial. Depending on how strong your soul-mate is, they may or may not be able to read your mind. They will know you’ve been marked and claimed.”

For the first time, she was grateful for the soul-mate mess. Declan didn’t know it, but he might save her best friend’s life. Maybe she would go back in a few days and thank him in the Incubus way, assuming she survived Olivia’s hearing, which was sure to come after this one. She owed him another night.

She sighed and leaned back. “I’ll take a fifty-fifty shot over no chance at all.”

“Only you would find that encouraging,” the Professor said, chuckling. “There are some basic protocols for meeting with an Enforcer. No weapons, remain calm, answer all their questions. And of course, be polite.”

“Okay on everything but weapons. If they try to read my mind, I’m taking out any of them I can,” she said firmly.

“Zoey, you cannot challenge an Enforcer.” The dark note in his voice worried her.

“What choice do I have?” she demanded. “If they read my mind, they find out what you’ve told me. They find out what Vikki told me, what I read in her diary. They learn everything. I become the weak point, and I betray both of you. No.” She shook her head hard. “I won’t let that happen. I’ll provoke them into killing me first.”

His features were grave. “Diary?”

“Yeah. They’ll find out I stole her diary so they wouldn’t find it,” she said, rolling her eyes. “I’m toast either way, if not from the Incubatti then the Sucubatti.” Which is why our plan to do our own thing is sounding better and better.

He said nothing.

“This is it, isn’t it?” she asked. “The last day of my life?”

The Professor laughed.

“There’s nothing funny about that.”

“It won’t go as you believe. I am certain you will leave the room alive and in no worse shape. The Enforcers are terrifying, yes, but they are also highly intelligent,” he said. “They won’t be provoked into killing you. You have this bond with your Incubus, and I put in a good word for you. They may respect the Incubus who bonded with you enough not to tell Olivia about it. Are you hearing all this?”

She nodded, calming some. She couldn’t help feeling vindicated. Declan thought he was winning a bet, when in truth, he had done her a favor that just might save Vikki and the Professor from the Incubatti Enforcers. She’d dwell on what that meant later, if she survived the inquiry.

“I don’t really feel bad about last night,” she said. Best night of my life. “I mean, about Eric.”

“He dumped you. Why would you feel bad?”

“You know why. Because he’s gonna call me, we’ll get married, yadda yadda.”

“The bond between an Incubus and his intended is rare and strong. It’s fate. It should feel natural. Don’t feel guilty for not thinking of Eric,” the Professor said with kindness.

“I still hurt, though,” she said. “I really hurt Eric. I really thought…”

“You could be normal. I know. Do you think otherwise now?”

“I don’t know. I know I’m not moving into the dorms. I can’t stand it there.”

“This is your home,” he reminded her. “You ditched me for Eric over a year ago, but even before that, I never made you live in the dorms, did I?”

She laughed at the offense in his voice.

“You cared for Eric. It’s natural for you to hurt,” he said. “Think of it less as a chapter ending but a new story starting. Eric will be fine. You’ll be fine, assuming you don’t throw down the gauntlet with the Enforcers.”

She grinned.

“I need to put your Incubus on speed dial. I’ve had to call him two nights in a row.”

His words stirred her memory. “He said the same thing,” she said, puzzled.

“I sent him to pick you up after you got poisoned and again last night, when I knew you were in danger.”

“Why?”

“Believe it or not, Declan has been as resistant to his fate as you are to yours. He should’ve initiated the bond long ago, after he found you. You have stubbornness in common for certain,” the Professor said. “One of you will have to grow sense. After speaking to him this morning, I believe he will be the one who does.”

“I still don’t believe this shit,” she told him. “If this thing gets me through the inquiry, you and I are gonna have a little talk about how to get out of this bizarro soul-mate business.”

“One thing at a time. Inquiry first,” the Professor said. “Focus on being calm. Take a bath, relax, and prepare yourself to answer their questions.”

“Alright. I’ll do my best. For you and Vikki, not for them,” she agreed.

“They’ll call at ten thirty, after they interview Vikki, to let me know if they need you to come.”

The Professor was worried, but not to the extent she thought he’d be if she were in danger. He cared for her; that much she knew. He wouldn’t send her in, if she was going to die. And he didn’t seem concerned that any mind reading they did would land him in trouble. Reassured by his steadiness and smile, she took a deep breath and rose.

“I’ll go take a bath. Holler when they call.”

She ran a bath and climbed in, relaxing. She let her mind go where it wanted. It lingered on Eric, and she felt badly for thinking how little he truly did satisfy her, after the night with Declan. If she’d known she was intended for that, she never would’ve gotten the hopes up of someone like Eric.

But there was no way she was going to be involuntarily bound to someone like Declan. She knew nothing about him. If he lived in the same apartment building with Incubatti, what was to say he wasn’t in charge of the Cambions slaughtering innocent women?

Something within her indicated that wasn’t the case. He’d been beyond gentle with her, to the point he’d sacrificed his own pleasure. She’d never heard of an Incubus doing something like that. If he was claiming her according to the three requirements, he had a reason to go slow with her. His goal would be securing her for the long term, not just one night of sex.

Long term. Zoey didn’t like thinking about tomorrow, let alone what would come in a few years. The Professor acted as disapproving towards Declan for not claiming her as he did Zoey for the way she ate. Maybe, then, she’d be able to convince Declan himself he didn’t want her. He waited over three years to appear, and did so only when the Professor called him.

She began to see a way out of the commitment. It helped her relax even more. She’d be calm at the inquiry, answer their questions then convince Declan he didn’t want her. The only thing out of the equation for good: Eric. She wouldn’t drag him back to her world, not when she understood she needed something more and he deserved much more than she could give him.

She let herself doze, at ease with the sex energy subdued for once.

Everything would go as planned. Vikki’s life depended on Zoey remaining calm this morning. She wasn’t going to let her best friend down by provoking the Enforcers into reading her. Though, she wasn’t going unarmed, either. Things were quickly getting ugly around her lately.