Beautiful Darkness (Caster Chronicles 2)

I remembered what Macon said about hybrids when he was arguing with Abraham at the Great Barrier, which already seemed like a lifetime ago. But I didn’t want to think about John Breed at all. I couldn’t forget seeing him with his hands all over Lena.

At least Lena didn’t notice. “His mother was an Evo. They can Morph—transmutate into virtually any species, even Mortals. That’s why John could walk around during the day, while other Incubuses have to avoid sunlight.”

“Yeah? So I’m what, like, a quarter bloodsucker?”

Lena nodded. “Probably. I mean, I can’t be certain of anything.”

Link shook his head. “That’s why I wasn’t sure at first. I was out all day and nothin’ happened. Figured it meant I was in the clear.”

“Why didn’t you say something right away?” It was a stupid question. Who would want to tell their friends they were Transforming into some kind of Demon?

“I didn’t realize he bit me. Just thought I got worked over in the fight, but then I started feelin’ weird and saw the marks.”

“You’ll have to be careful, man. We don’t know much about John Breed. If he’s some kind of hybrid, who knows what you can do?”

Lena cleared her throat. “Actually, I knew him pretty well.” Link and I turned and looked at her at the same time. She twisted her necklace nervously. “I mean, not that well. But we were in the Tunnels together for a long time.”

“And?” I could feel my blood rising.

“He was really strong, and he had some kind of weird magnetism that drove girls crazy everywhere we went.”

“Girls like you?” I couldn’t help myself.

“Shut up.” She nudged me with her shoulder.

“This is startin’ to sound better already.” Link cracked a smile, in spite of himself.

Lena was going down the list of John’s attributes in her mind, a list I was hoping wasn’t too long. “He could see and hear and smell things I couldn’t.”

Link inhaled deeply, then coughed. “Dude, you really need a shower.”

“You’ve got superpowers now, and that’s the best you can do?” I shoved him. He shoved me back, and I flew off the bed onto the floor.

“What the hell?” I was used to being the one throwing him on the ground.

Link looked at his hands, nodding with satisfaction. “That’s right, fists a fury. Like I always said.”

Lena picked up Lucille, who had backed herself into a corner. “And you should be able to Travel. You know, materialize wherever you want. You won’t need to use the window, even though Uncle Macon says it’s more civilized.”

“I can walk through walls, like a superhero?” Link was cheering up considerably.

“You’ll probably have a great time, except…” Lena took a breath and tried to act casual. “You won’t really eat anymore. And assuming you plan to be more like Uncle Macon than Hunting, you’ll have to feed off people’s dreams and memories to sustain yourself. Uncle Macon called it eavesdropping. But you’ll have plenty of time because you won’t sleep anymore.”

“I can’t eat? What am I gonna tell my mom?”

Lena shrugged. “Tell her you’ve become a vegetarian.”

“A vegetarian? Are you insane? That’s worse than bein’ a quarter Demon!” Link stopped pacing. “Did you hear that?”

“Hear what?”

He walked over to the open window and leaned out. “Seriously?” There were a few banging sounds on the side of the house, and Link hoisted Ridley through my window. I looked away dutifully, since most of Ridley’s underwear showed at one point or another during the climb over the windowsill. It wasn’t the most graceful entrance.

Apparently, Ridley had cleaned up and gone back to looking like a Siren, whether she was actually one or not. She pulled her skirt down and shook out her blond and pink streaked hair. “Let me get this straight. The party’s here, but I’m supposed to stay in my cell with the dog?”

Lena sighed. “You mean my bedroom??

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