Page 106 of Bloodhunter

I felt his lust.

And I felt mine.

“Take her,” Joseph roared. “Take your whore!”

The incubus planted his stare on the exorcist, and Joseph’sthick glasses cracked. He ran his fingers over the broken lenses, laughingmaniacally. For an instant, the demon wasn’t the scariest thing in our midst.

Joseph the exorcist was off his rocker. I just hoped histrap was true.

Cold terror spread through me. “What if it doesn’t hold?”

“Then he will take you with him to hell.” Joseph turned hishead to look at me. “Quite possibly where you belong.”

The incubus howled, and his face began to crack as Joseph’sglasses had cracked.

Only the whites of his eyes showed, and he clung to thedoorframe so hard the house creaked. But he couldn’t withstand the power theexorcist had grown, and he couldn’t fight his need for me. With a howl, he flunghimself toward me and straight into the trap.

And I wasn’t the only one affected by the demon’s influenceand the magic of the trap. Amias crumbled, hitting the ground with a thud, hisfingers clawing at the air, his eyes wide.

He reached for me. “Trinity…”

We were all pulled toward the demon and that circle of power.

The vampire master, bleeding from his nose, his mouth, andhis eyes, began to slide across the ground toward the demon trap.

Somewhere behind the trees where I’d hidden her, Derryscreamed. The supernaturals with me stumbled, milling around, confused.

Even Shane dropped his shotgun and fell to his knees. Rhysstumbled back and tried to pull his gun, but his hands wouldn’t obey him.Clayton, closest to the demon trap—and to the demon—shook his head, hard, andtook a halfhearted, slow swipe at the blood pouring from his eyes.

I saw everything. I felt everything.

The night was too bright, the darkness too heavy, the feartoo vivid, the end too near. And the need was too, too fucking much. Lustbattered me, claimed me, controlled me.

And Joseph faltered beneath the reality of the situation.His face paled, and his eyes widened behind the crack lenses. He shook hishead. “What is this?” he asked. “Whatisthis?”

Only Miriam, for whatever reason, remained unaffected by thedemon magic swirling through the air. She screeched and ran at Clayton, herswitchblades in her hands. “Your fault,” she screamed, and began to slash atthe man she hated.

Blood flew, ribbons of red blood so thick they hung in theair before floating slowly toward the incubus, who grabbed them and shoveledthem into his wide-open mouth.

Clayton, his arms raised against Miriam’s blades, fell acrossthe invisible lines of the trap. He fell into the circle with the demon.

The incubus did not hesitate. He grabbed Clayton by the backof his head and slammed his bloody, open mouth against Clayton’s, sealing themtogether.

He shoved himself into Clayton. He possessed him.

Joseph crumbled, sobbing, and then began to crawl away.

I let him go. I hadn’t the strength to do otherwise, andanyway, it was too late for him to help.

Seth Damon’s physical form fell to the ground and began tochange.

Devoid of his spirit and its glamour, his body was twistedand deformed, burning and red, with long, white horns and sharp, curvedfingernails. Between his legs hung a swollen, jutting appendage that lay on anenormous, bloated sac.

Hooves ended his legs, and a thick tail twisted around hisbody. Smoke drifted from his mouth and rose lazily into the softly lighteningsky.

As the magic dissipated, we all turned to stare at eachother, shocked and dazed. Derry raced from the thick trees and I holsteredSilverlight before catching the girl in my bloody arms.

Amias, his body beginning to burn with the imminent arrivalof dawn, stumbled away. I hoped the sun would kill him before he found a placeto hide, but the hope was halfhearted and meek.