Everything ached. Was an elephant sitting on my chest? I groaned and tried to sit up.
"Careful, just rest."
Orion’s hand pressed against my uninjured shoulder and kept me from getting too far. I sank back on the long cushioned seat in his club.
Good call on the not moving. Even the effort required to open my eyes was too much. What the hell happened?
"You’re okay.” His voice came from above me. “Are you okay? Can you hear me? Rob?"
I huffed a laugh, which turned into a slightly painful cough. “Hey.”
"Take it easy,” Orion instructed. “Do you want something to eat? Don’t get up. Here’s some water. You should eat something too, get your strength back."
"Jeez. Now I know how it feels when you can’t get a word in edgewise."
The hazy memories in my head made little sense. First the menacing demon biker and his fire knives. Then getting hurt and using our magic to protect myself from the attack. Orion found me after… we were trying to replenish our power… Something went wrong. I passed out.
I was confused. Were my memories playing tricks on me? Me losing control and messing up? Sure. I imagined that clear as day. Orion? Not so easy to picture.
Cracking open an eyelid, an extremely worried incubus stared back at me. Actualfearlingered on his face. Fear and guilt.
"I’m so sorry, Rob.” His regret was clear even when he couldn’t meet my eyes. “You must hate me."
“Hey, no worries. I make magical mistakes all the time.”
My attempt to lighten the mood did not make him feel better. He kept making sad eyes in my general direction.
"Just fill me in here," I suggested. “Did you lose control?”
"Yes."
If I had the energy, I’d be comforting and coddlinghimright now, the little word sounded so mournful.
Some of the rest came back to me. I barely managed to get the damn duck caller quacking before the darkness overwhelmed me. We were supposed to be creating magic, replenishing what we lost from my encounter with Bad Mother. It became more one-sided, him absorbing energy from me and giving nothing back.
Coughing again, Orion offered me a bottle of water. My arm shook slightly when holding the bottle to my lips but that sure hit the spot.
I eventually found my voice again. “How-what-uh, I thought experienced sex demons didn’t lose control?”
“We don’t.”
So then what happened? Orion looked pained as he fumbled through an explanation.
“My kind feeds on sexual energy and desire. We can only go so far before too much energy overwhelms us. What most in the supernatural community don’t know is that itispossible for us to overcome this barrier. And that opens up more options for us.”
"Like feeding on magical energy," I said. Not exactly surprising, given who we were hunting. “That’s what Lex does.” Instead of the magic being an extra seasoning, it became the whole damn meal.
"Yes, like Lex does." Orion inhaled a sharp breath and corrected himself. “LikeIcan do.”
"Y-you? You know how to feed on magical energy too?"
Huh. Guess that lined up with recent events. Orion hadn’t seemed surprised or confused that an incubus was capable of draining the life from people and stealing magic, even though neither of those things were supposed to be possible. This shouldn’t be surprising, yet my head felt funny again.
“My powers are somewhat expanded,” Orion explained. “But there’s a price. Feeding on magic is like being new all over again. There’s an overwhelming, insatiable hunger. If we go far enough, we can even consume the core of a person’s magic… along with their life.” He shook his head, his face twisting in disgust. “We know how to consume the magic, but we don’t know how to stop.”
My head spun. Both from being worn out and everything he revealed.
"How-where-wha-"
